Sharla Kuhlauf: The Ultimate Sharpshooter
by Xenobladefan17
Summary: {Takes place before Future Connected} [Spoilers] Monokuma kidnaps Sharla and sends her into a killing game with 18 other Ultimate students. However, she feels familiar with some of them. As the killing game goes on, Sharla has no choice but to find the mastermind behind her suffering. (Other series involved. Rated M for extreme violence and strong language.)
1. Prologue: Ultimate Awakening - Part 1

**(A/N: This is a remake/rewrite of the story of the same name from Wattpad. I do not own any of the characters! I only own the plot, the Battle Gems, any headcanons on Tumblr that I agree with, and the executions that'll appear later down the line. All other rights belong to Monolith Soft, Nintendo, Spike Chunsoft, and YandereDev.)**

**...**

**Begin Prologue: Ultimate Awakening**

My memory was fuzzy when I woke up. It's just been a day after me and my friends defeated Zanza. The last thing I remember before blacking out was being attacked by a black and white bear after Shulk went missing. What happened to him anyway? I hope something bad didn't happen. I noticed the gap in where I was.

_Am I inside a locker?_ I thought.

I pushed against the locker door and it opened suddenly. I let out a shout of shock as I fell out of the locker and landed on the grey floor. I managed to get back up onto my feet.

At least I can still remember my name and my talent. My name is Sharla Kuhlauf and my talent is the Ultimate Sharpshooter, but Ultimate Sniper also suits me. I'm the protagonist of this crazy and wild story.

My vibrant turquoise Battle Gem was still in my waistcoat pocket, which I thought was a relief. I looked around to see that I ended up inside a classroom with technology that looked like it came from the High Entia.

"What the hell is going on right now?" I asked myself as I looked around.

_**BANG!**_

Hearing that noise, I turned around to see the locker next to the one I came out of was on the verge of breaking.

Then before I knew it, the entire locker door was ripped off and then something, or rather _someone_ crashed into me and they screamed.

"AAAAGGGGHHHHH!"

_Thud!_

"Oh! Sorry!" I heard a male voice speak. It sounded familiar to me.

"It's fine. My name's **Sharla Kuhlauf**. My talent is called the **Ultimate Sharpshooter**, but **Ultimate Sniper** fits me as well." I responded as I managed to get up.

I got a good look at the very muscular boy. He was 6'6" tall. He had long, wild, dark greenish-brown hair and wore a white dress shirt, a brown coat, a green tie tucked underneath his coat, brown pants, a gold lapel pin, and a green insect cage with a green strap over his left shoulder. For some reason he was barefoot. He looked up at me, giving me a good look at his face. It was very angular, he had blood red eyes and wore round glasses.

My eyes widened. Is he who I think he is?!

"Gentlemen suppose to make intro, right? Um... Gonta's name is **Gonta Gokuhara**, Gonta's talent is **Ultimate Entomologist**! Gonta want to become gentleman! Becoming true gentleman Gonta's goal!" The boy, Gonta said with a smile.

Gonta Gokuhara? Why does his name feel so familiar?! Maybe if my memory becomes less fuzzy I'll know why. Might as well keep this conversation going.

"Oh, so you're Gonta. That's a really cute name." I complemented.

"R-Really? Th-Thank you." Gonta said, blushing.

"Awww, you're so nice. You scared me for a bit."

"Oh... Gonta scary-looking, huh?"

"Oh, no... That's not what I..." I was about to reassure him when he cut me off.

"No, is OK. Gonta used to it. Gonta called scary since he was kid." He claimed.

"Since you were a kid, huh?" I repeated with a concerned look.

Gonta looked down to the floor. "Kid Gonta bigger than other kids. Other kids scared of Gonta... So kid Gonta play alone. That how Gonta come to like bugs. But... when Gonta really focus, it easy to lose track... One day, Gonta go to forest to find bugs. End up lost..." He explained.

The name's familiar but this backstory isn't. Gah! Why can't I remember the truth right now?!

Either way, I still felt bad for him. "That sounds awful... Were they able to find you right away?" I asked.

"Yeah... Took ten years, though." Gonta said.

My eyes widened. "Ten years?!" I yelled. I don't remember this at all!

"But Gonta fine. New family took care of Gonta."

"I see... I'm glad they were nice people."

"Oh... not people. Wolves."

That response really took me by surprise. "Wolves?!" I shouted in shock. OK, there's no way this is real! I mean, raised by wolves? For ten years? This isn't how I remember Gonta at all! Once again, he still feels familiar to me! OK, calm down. I can still handle this.

"But they really nice. Cuz of forest family, Gonta learn to speak bug and animal. As thanks, Gonta wanna show forest family what great gentleman Gonta is!" Gonta claimed with pride.

I decided to change the subject. "Isn't this place strange?" I asked as I looked around the classroom.

"Sharla right. This place strange." The entomologist agreed, looking around as well.

"Well, why don't see if anyone else is caught up in this place?" I suggested.

"Gonta think that good idea."

The two of us agreed to split up and find anyone else in this strange place on our own. If I remember Gonta, then do I remember anyone else in this crazy place?!


	2. Prologue: Ultimate Awakening - Part 2

When I got out of the building which looked like an advanced high school of some kind, I saw that this whole environment was encased in some kind of caged dome.

_How long did it take to to build this place? Must've been a long time if anyone had time to build something like this!_ I thought to myself.

"Hey, let's ask her if she's an **Ultimate** student too!" A female voice said from a distance.

"A-Alright." A male voice replied.

I turned around to see a boy wearing a black cap with three white stripes lining the back of it, and a silver star pinned near the front. Underneath the cap, he has short dark blue hair. He has very pale skin and a slim figure. His eyes are gambogeish grey, with thick, feminine eyelashes that are completely natural. His outfit is double-breasted and pinstripe, thin, grey stripes over a black uniform. His pants match his uniforms design, black with a pinstripe design to accentuate his long legs. His former high school emblem is on the breast pocket of his uniform, the pocket accentuated with a dull golden color to stand out from his generally dark, monotone uniform. His shoes are dark blue loafers that are both fashionable and appear easy to walk in.

The girl he was with has smooth ash blonde hair, reaching just below her shoulders, which is somewhat curved outwards to each side, making it look a lot bigger than what it actually was. Her hair is parted to the far right, her bangs hanging low over her eyes before they're swept behind her ears, with a single arcing ahoge poking out from the back of her parting and two thin clumps of hair sitting over each shoulder, which curve outwards at the ends. Her eyes are tilted inwards a little, and are framed by quite long and pronounced upper and lower eyelashes, and their irises are a warm plum color. She wears a pinkish off-white dress shirt with an orange tie at her neck, over which she wears a sleeveless pale pink sweater with a darker pink hem and v-neck collar, her upside-down triangle insignia adorned on the left side of her chest. She wears a short, dark purple skirt, which is patterned with 5 thin black lines with musical notes decorating them, which creates an actual melody, although it doesn't seem to be any relevant tune, and in her bangs she wears five hair-slides of a similar design. Her knee-high socks are a much colder purple color than her skirt, bearing the same crest as her sweater on their outer sides, and on her feet she wears tan lace-up shoes with thick brown soles. She's also carrying around a plain white backpack, which has a flap lid, fastened with a rectangular golden clasp, and two small pockets on the sides.

"Hey, are you an **Ultimate** student too?" The girl asked.

"That's right. I'm Sharla Kuhlauf. My title is the **Ultimate Sharpshooter**, but you can call me the **Ultimate Sniper** if you want." I confirmed.

"Oh! You're a sniper?! That's so cool!" The girl admired.

"Yeah. What are your names, anyway?" I asked.

"Well... I'm... **Shuichi Saihara**. They call me the **Ultimate Detective**." The boy, Shuichi introduced himself.

"Oh, yeah... My name is **Kaede Akamatsu**. I'm the **Ultimate Pianist**. Nice to meet you, Sharla!" The girl, Kaede said with a bright smile.

"A detective and a pianist, huh? Those sound like great talents." I admitted.

"Well, no one really calls me the **Ultimate Pianist**. Usually just **Piano Freak**. Ever since I was a child, I would play the piano whenever I got bored... There were even times I played the piano so much, that I would forget to eat and sleep. Eventually, I won trophies from concerts. And people started praising me..." Kaede muttered before trailing off.

"It's fine. Being dedicated to your talent is nothing to be ashamed of." I told her.

"Are you OK, Kaede?" Shuichi asked, looking concerned.

"I'm fine. I just got lost in memory." The pianist replied.

"Then why are you **blushing**?" The detective asked.

That only made Kaede's face turn even redder. "O-Oh!" She yelped.

"Let's just find anyone else still here. There should be at least **15 other Ultimate students** here. It was nice meeting you, Sharla."

After that, the two of them walked away. I went back into the building to search for any other students.

_15 others? Then I have to look for 12 more Ultimate students! How can whoever brought me here even get all of these guys here?!_ I thought to myself as I kept walking.

The first person I saw in the building was so still that I thought she was a really detailed mannequin. She was a tall, young woman with long, knee length, cerulean hair which starts out smooth and becomes wavy the lower it goes. Her eyes are soft teal and round. She wears rimless glasses with white temples. Her outfit consists of a white blouse, a knee length pleated skirt, adorned with six white buttons on her waist; her skirt seems to be held by suspenders. She wears an orange bow, black socks ending under the knee, and grey shoes. Her blazer has two pockets on both sides and is adorned by the same white buttons as her skirt. Overall, she looked like a normal and plain-looking otaku.

"Uh, hello? Can you hear me?" I asked as I poked at both of her cheeks. Now that I think of it, I've seen her hairstyle before but my memory is still fuzzy right now so I shook the thought aside for now. Either way, the poking got her to move and she turned to face me.

"I never thought I'd be poked from both sides. How truly unexpected." She muttered.

"Woah! You gave me a small jump." I told her.

"Oh, I didn't mean any harm... I was just deep in thought. So I thought if I ignored you, you'd go somewhere else." The long-haired girl admitted.

"Isn't it a bit rude to do that?" I pointed out.

"Umm, well isn't it rude to force someone to talk when they don't want to? Oh, but it's fine. I feel like talking now."

Immediately, a big smile appeared on her face.

"Now, let's talk. What do you want to start with? My favorite Doraemon episode is #53. The one with security cameras and target practice."

"Before going into that, can you tell me your name?" I asked as I scratched at the back of my head.

"Oh, my name is **Tsumugi Shirogane**. I'm the **Ultimate Cosplayer**." The girl, Tsumugi replied.

"Oh. You're a cosplayer?"

"Are you...surprised? I get that a lot, since I'm so plain."

"I mean, it's makes sense. You have that strange, almost sexy aura about you. I'm not being rude, of course."

"Normally, I don't really like people looking at me like that... I just like making cosplay. I'm fine with others wearing them... But lately, more cosplayers are putting themselves before their characters. I'd rather wear my outfits myself, with love, than give them to people like that." Tsumugi rambled on.

"Wow, you're pretty intense." I mentioned. I felt like I knew her name too. I shouldn't think about this too much until I find out why everyone is here.

"It makes me happy when I get to show people the outfits I've made. And thanks to my sponsors, I can use materials that are just plain expensive."

"Oh! Well, of course the **Ultimate Cosplayer** would have sponsors!"

"It's not a big deal. People just crowd around like I'm a panda at the zoo."

"Amazing. You're kind of like a celebrity. Anyway, earlier you said you were hard in thought about something. What was it?" I asked.

"Ah... that **bronze dragon statue** over there. I'm just plain curious about it. It almost seems like it's floating, right? Doesn't it look pretty out of place?" The cosplayer pondered.

"Now that you bring that up... you're right. It does look out of place in a school like this." I theorized.

"This is a school, right? But everything here is so weird, isn't it? There's trees and grass growing inside, I can't find any exits... And it seems like we're the only people here..."

Tsumugi then had a fearful look on her face.

"Are we...going to be okay? Are we going to be able to get out?"

The two of us were silent for a moment before I decided to speak up.

"You shouldn't worry about it. For now, you should focus on our present situation. When it's done, everything should be OK. It's better to just be carefree." I told her.

"Yeah... I guess so. Being all depressed won't help anything." The cosplayer said with confidence as she ran off.

I walked down one of the hallways as soon as she left. I stopped when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see a relatively good-looking boy, and his looks resemble those of a stereotypical "playboy." He has curly hair the color of green tea with the tips colored orchid purple, which he keeps relatively short, a small patch at the base of his head completely shaved, with two short ahoges sprouting from the top of his head with the tips colored the same orchid purple as the other tips. He has a few longer clumps of hair hanging down in front of his left ear and between his eyes, and long bangs that cover the majority of his forehead sideswept. His eyes are green, and they slope downwards towards the sides of his face, both framed by notably long, thick eyelashes. He wears a dark blue striped sweater with wide, elbow-length sleeves, a small chain accessory pinned on just beside his right shoulder. Underneath this, he wears a darker shirt that pokes out from below the hem of his sweater and from above its low-dip collar, still leaving his collarbone exposed, and another white garment that hangs out of the bottom. He also wears baggy, light-brown sarouel pants, and navy-blue slip-on shoes with white soles. On his sweater there's a crest some sort as well as a larger symbol, a ship's steering wheel, which also bears some resemblance to the setting sun, which covers most of the lower half of his sweater, centered to the left. He's also wearing a necklace with a rectangular crystal pendulum hanging at the end of it, a silver bracelet on his right wrist and a different, larger, dark brown bracelet on his left that wraps around his wrist several times. He has multiple silver rings: one on his left index finger, one on his right thumb, and one on his right index finger, and on his right middle finger he wears one longer and darker ring. His right ear has five ringed cartilage piercings, and he wears a small beaded earring in the lobe of each ear.

"Oh, hey there. You got kidnapped too? Well, you look alright. That's good. Situation could be better, though." He muttered.

"Yeah. I think it could be better too." I admitted.

"Hey, let me ask you something. Do you remember how you got here?"

"Well, I was looking for a friend of mine who went missing when I was attacked by a black and white bear. I blacked out and now I'm here." I explained the best I could.

"Huh, so you're the **only one who remembers**, right? I guess you're the odd duck out."

"Odd duck out?" I repeated.

"I asked the other 15 students. They all said they don't remember."

"So none of them remember how they got here?"

"It's like... we all have amnesia or something."

"I'm a medic. So I'm sure that isn't normal. If everyone else had amnesia-" I was going to say before the boy interrupted.

"Welp, I guess we're all in a pretty abnormal situation then."

"What..?" I asked in shock before continuing.

"Wait... amnesia's a bit of a stretch. You're all probably just confused... I'm sure you guys will remember eventually."

"Or it could be group hypnosis, maybe brainwashing..."

The boy then dropped his freaky façade and rubbed at the back of his head.

"In any case... I hope we remember soon. Otherwise...I'll end up the outcast."

"The outcast..? What do you mean?"

"To tell you the truth, how I got here isn't the only thing I don't remember. I also forgot...my own talent."

_What? He forgot his own talent?_ I thought.

"Phew, I'm in trouble. I know I must have been some kind of **Ultimate**... I just don't remember." The boy muttered in embarrassment.

"Is that true?" I asked.

"'Course it is. But then again, I don't blame you for not believing me."

He then seemed to remember something and he turned to ask me.

"Oh...I never told you my name, did I? It's not like...I already told you, but then I forgot I did, right?"

"No, you didn't tell me yet." I admitted.

"My name is **Rantaro Amami**. I **can't remember my Ultimate talent** at the moment... But I promise, I'm not a bad guy. Nice to meet ya." The boy, Rantaro introduced himself with a wave.

"Not to change the subject or anything but, how did you get the tips of your hair purple?" I asked.

"Ah. It's **orchid purple hairdye**. I just thought **the color suited me**, that's all. Anyway, it'd be nice if we could get along. We aren't going anywhere for a while." Rantaro responded.

"Unless you guys can pull a fast one on whoever brought us here." I teased.

"...You really think it's gonna be that easy?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" I asked in confusion.

"Nothin'. Just a feeling. Haha, hey, don't worry about it, alright?"

I was even more confused even after Rantaro left. Shaking the confusion off, I opened a pair of duel doors and ended up in what I assumed was the dining hall. I saw two girls with a major height difference.

The short girl had pale skin, reddish-brown eyes, and chin-length red hair. Her most notable trait is her black "witch hat", with a red strip around the middle of it, a small pin on the cloth. She also has a quite short stature and round face, giving her quite a young appearance. The right corners of her upper lips are slightly curled up, and her eyes are lazily lidded. She also wears brown medieval boots with white ribbons tied around her ankles, dark brown tights, and a pleated bubble red skirt. Around her shoulders is a black blazer with grey accents, with a grey blouse underneath a brown sweater vest. On the pocket of her blazer is an insignia, and gold buttons adorn her blazer. Some of her hair is hidden underneath the witch hat she wears on her head. She also wears a hairpin on the right side of her bangs, which resembles a blue gem. The same similar gems appear as cufflinks on her sleeves.

The taller girl had fair skin, her legs maybe a little tanned, and is quite an athletic build, with notably wide shoulders and quite large muscles. Her eyes are a warm green color, her eyelashes are relatively thick, and she has a two slightly longer clumps of them sticking out at different angles, one towards the side of her face and the other diagonally down her cheek. Her hair is dark brown with a slight green tinge, and rather thin, and in length, it reaches about halfway down her calves. It's tied behind her with white ribbons in two low bunches, three extra hair ties placed at even intervals down her pigtails, the hair between them split into two clumps, leaving the last and longest stretch loose. A large green pinwheel bow with a white floral pattern is attached at the back of her head by two hair slides, and she also wears a lilac headband with a star-shaped adornment on the left side, and a matching-colored choker with a golden bell at her neck. She has a small mole below her bottom lip, centered to the left. Her outfit is a double-breasted crop top, a rather desaturated blue, with the flannel collar of a seifuku, a large white bow sitting just underneath it in the center of her chest. This collar is white, with a blue line around the edge which matches her knee-high socks and the cuffs of her sleeves. Her skirt is very short, and has two layers of thick frills. On her feet, she wears a pair of sandals that appear to be made from straw rope.

I turned to face the shorter girl who was looking down at the floor.

"Nyeeeh... So are we stuck here?" She pondered.

"It seems that way. But don't be scared, I'm sure there's a way out of here somewhere." I told her.

"I'm... not scared. It's just a pain. Something like this won't make me panic. Cuz...I'm a mage." The girl muttered.

"A mage?" I repeated.

"Hm... that's right. I haven't told you yet."

She then seemed to put on a brave face.

"Prepare to be amazed. Fall to your knees. I am **Himiko Yumeno**, the **Ultimate Mage**."

The two of us were silent for a moment and then Himiko became thoughtful.

"But... I'm officially called the **Ultimate Magician**."

"Oh, so you're a magician. You should've said that from the start. It makes sense since to most people, magic doesn't exist." I pointed out.

"Nyeeeh... magic does exist." Himiko muttered unexpectedly.

"Huh?"

"Because... I am a mage."

"You're just a magician, right?" I asked.

"Only on paper... I'm known as a magician, but that's just a ruse. I am actually...a mage." The self-proclaimed mage said with a sly smile.

"Just a ruse?" I muttered.

"You might not know them, but... There's a group called the **Magic Castle**. Also known as the **Hall of Magicians**, it's where the world's magic lovers gather. I was youngest person to ever win their Magician of the Year award." Himiko explained.

"That's pretty cool." I admitted.

"It's all a ruse. They're keeping my magic a secret by disguising it as tricks. Because of this ruse, I became famous all over the world for performing tricks. But...*sniffle*...I'm not a magician... I'm a mage... Nobody believes me..." The magician said as she started to breakdown in tears.

"Aw. It's OK. I know a lot of about magic myself." I told her.

Himiko's eyes seemed to light up with hope. "Really?" She muttered in disbelief.

"Yep. Where I came from, **magic is completely possible** to do and can be achieved by anyone with the skills. You could make a powerful fireball, heal wounds with bullets, and many other possibilities!" I explained as best as I could.

"Really?! Magic exists?!" Himiko exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes. I can show you how to do it if you want." I offered.

"That would be amazing. Everyone would believe me!" Himiko cheered.

I smiled as I turned to face the taller girl. I suddenly heard her yell "HAAAAIYAAAAAAAHHH!"

"H-Huh?" I yelped in shock.

"I'm yelling so I can build up my spirit energy! Don't you know you can unlock your brain's full potential by yelling to build up spirit energy!?" The tall girl explained.

"I've heard that pro athletes do that. It's supposed to help you focus." I recalled.

"I must be prepared for combat at all times, just in case someone tries to attack me! I will protect myself with **Neo-Aikido**!" The girl said with pride.

"Aikido..? Then you must be-" I was cut off by the confident tall girl.

"Oh, yes! I'm **Tenko Chabashira**! HAIYAH! The **Ultimate Aikido Master**!"

"I've always thought Aikido masters were huge, burly guys, but you're so cute!" I admired.

"C-Cute!? Aaaahhh... St-Stop iiit... I...I-I'm not...cute... My face crinkles when I suck down a shake... And when I wipe my face, my eyelids turn inside-out." Tenko muttered as she blushed hard.

"U-Uh, I see... But I think you're cute. I'm sure any guy would agree." I said.

Tenko then made a weird look on her face.

"Is something wrong? Your face looks intense now!" I asked in worry.

"I don't like to be praised by degenerate males." The Aikido master admitted.

"Degenerate males? You mean men, right? Are you uncomfortable around them?" I asked her.

"It's a way bigger problem than just being uncomfortable. If any degenerate tries to touch me, my reflex is to grab them and throw them across the room."

"You're right... That is a way bigger problem than just being uncomfortable around men. I know how that feels. By the way, what is this Neo-Aikido you mentioned?"

"Neo-Aikido is an original form of aikido that my master and I completely made up ourselves!"

So her Aikido is self-taught. After splitting from Himiko and Tenko, I went into what I believe was the storage room.

When I got in, I heard a raspy female voice mutter "Dammit... Where the hell is it?"

I saw a tall, young woman with an hourglass figure. She has long, strawberry blonde hair and two ahoges. She has icy blue eyes, and her irises, as well as the rings around her pupils, have an unusual, ragged pattern, making them appear slightly mechanical-looking. She wears brown goggles with yellow accents on her head. She wears a modified pink sailor school uniform and a matching skirt, her collar noticeably exposing her cleavage, lacking the cover on her chest. She wears black studded fingerless gloves, with black heeled-boots with gold buttons and buckles on them. She has black straps connected with gold rings attached to her white socks, and over her clothes, gold ring covering her blue ribbon around her collar. She wears a black choker, and two smaller black collars that resemble barbed wire made out of rubber around her neck. On her uniforms collar, she wears a pin of a cartoon mouse rummaging through a shelf fill with various chemicals.

I walked up to her and asked her "Hey, what are you looking for?"

She turned around and shouted "Don't sneak up on me, bitch!"

"Sorry if I surprised you." I said as I sweatdroped.

"Don't try to play fucking innocent with me! You were gazing at my beauty, weren't ya?" The girl teased.

"Hey! I wasn't doing whatever you just said! I just wanted to know your name!"

"Huh? S-Seriously? You don't...know who I am?"

The girl then put her brave face back on.

"I'm the gorgeous girl genius whose good looks and golden brain will go down in history! I'm the one, the only, the legendary **Ultimate Inventor** herself—**Miu Iruma**!"

"So, what kind of things do you invent?" I asked.

"I make all kinds of gadgets—ones that let you type while you sleep, read while you sleep... Even ones that let you eat while you sleep." Miu explained.

"Why does everything involve sleeping?"

"I was inspired after I realized how much time people waste on sleep. Though, this one time I invented these really stupid eyedrop contact lenses as a gag."

"Wait, really? That's your invention? Some of the people I've encountered wear them!" I exclaimed.

"Psh! Your friends sound like total plebs! That invention was nothing! It doesn't make you more productive while you sleep, so it was a failure! Unlike like you with your large breasts! I signed the patent rights over to some company and never looked back." The inventor claimed.

"By the way, what were you looking for earlier? You sounded pretty desperate to find it." I couldn't help but ask.

"Eh? Are you a dumbass? In a situation like this, I gotta find some meds!"

"Medicine? Are you hurt or feeling sick?"

"No, idiot! I need strong meds cuz I wanna trip my fuckin' balls off! *sigh*... I just wanna set my mind free and forget all about this shitty situation!" Miu groaned as she blushed hard.

"Wait, what?! You can't use drugs to get high! You definitely shouldn't do that!" I yelled.

"Heeee! Wh-What the hell...? My genius can't be constrained by the wisdom of the masses... Besides...this place probably doesn't even have the shit I need to get loosey-goosey... S-So...are we cool...? Are you...done being mad at me?" Miu muttered in fear.

They say there's a fine line between genius and insanity, but that was ridiculous. Leaving the storage room, I then heard arguing in a nearby classroom.

I went inside to see a human-like robot. His face has very pale skin. His eyebrows press closely to his round, mechanical blue eyes, making it appear that his brows are a part of his eyes. Thick black lines run from around his eyes and down his cheeks to reach his chin. He has white hair that is very sharp and swayed to the left, along with the very large ahoge on the top of his head. possesses a very tall, round and metallic collar around his neck, an emblem on the left side of his collar. A thin strip of screen wraps all the way around it, displaying a constantly changing string of green text. A softer black material covers his neck entirely. The collar is open in the middle. He doesn't seem to have actual ears, but black, headphone shaped objects in the area around them. He has four glowing buttons that run from his chest to his stomach down the middle of his torso, a metallic left breast pocket, and something that resembles a belt around his waist, two red buttons attached.

There was also a young man with an innocent look and a rather refined face. He has a short stature, a thin build, and very pale skin. He has purple eyes and moderately long, wavy blackish purple hair, with the tips dyed a brighter purple. He wears a white suit with multiple straps wrapped around his arms, and two straps hanging loosely around his legs. Apparently, his pants are made to look like a piece of punk fashion with bondage pelts, but they are actually just fake belts sewed to thicker part of the thighs. His shirt is ripped at the hem and the collar part of it is completely gone, and big parts of the uniform are fixed with metal clips. He has multi-colored buttons running down the middle of his shirt, with a few usually hidden under his scarf, and he has military badges on his right. His scarf has black and white spaces alternating exactly like a chessboard. He also wears two-colored black and purple slip flats and he appears to wear a white belt.

Something about him felt familiar to me. Seriously, when am I going to remember why I feel that way with some of these guys? Either way, the young man was a little to close for comfort for the robot.

"Please stop! Don't come any closer!" He pleaded.

"C'mooon! Wait up! Lemme touch your body a little! I've always wanted to be friends with a robot!" The young man said with excitement.

"A robot?" I repeated.

"...What is it? Are you another robophobe? I have a recording function. If you make any robophobic remarks, I will see you in court."

"Wait, are you a Mechon by any chance?!" I asked in worry.

"Do not compare me to what you just said! I am not just any old robot! I am **K1-B0**, the **Ultimate Robot**! But please, address me as **Keebo**!" The robot, Keebo muttered angerly.

"**Ultimate Robot**..?" I couldn't help but say.

"That's not faaair! You can't be the only one who gets to show off! I'll introduce myself, too!" The man exclaimed.

"Oh, uh... go ahead." I complied.

"I'm **Kokichi Oma**, the **Ultimate Supreme Leader**!" The man, Kokichi introduced himself with a sly smirk.

Another name I somehow feel familiar with. If only I could remember why right now. I can still get through Keebo and Kokichi's petty argument and find the other Ultimate students.

"By the way, I learned the hard way that a robot's breath smells like gasoline." Kokichi muttered unexpectedly.

"My breath does not smell like gasoline! I am powered by electricity!" Keebo yelled.

"Nee-heehee...I'm just kidding."

"...You're not funny."

"Of course you don't think I'm funny. Robots can't understand human humor to begin with!"

"D-Don't mock me! I have studied the complete history of stand-up comedy! Plus, I may have the appearance of a robot, but I am a high school student just like you."

"You're a high school student?" I asked Keebo.

"I was created by **Professor Idabashi**, the leading authority in the field of robotics... He installed in me a "**strong AI**," capable of learning and maturing like a human brain. That's why, at the time of my creation, I didn't know anything. I was like a baby... But the professor raised me like I was his own child. He taught me so many things... Until finally, he enrolled me in high school. And now I stand here before you! See? I'm just like everyone else!" Keebo explained with a hint of pride in his voice.

"Hey, do robots have dicks?" Kokichi asked.

"Please do not ask ridiculous questions!" Keebo said angerly.

"Nee-heehee... I only asked because your backstory is pretty flaccid for a robot." The supreme leader replied with a grin.

_Well, I can see how being a robot might be enough to be called the Ultimate Robot..._ I thought before I turned to Kokichi. "Hey, Kokichi? I don't really understand your Ultimate Supreme Leader talent..." I told him.

"...Oh. I'm just the supreme leader of an evil secret organization. That's all." He responded with a sinister look on his face.

"What?"

"I gotta say, it's pretty impressive. My organization has over 10,000 members!"

"Seriously? The supreme leader of an evil secret organiza—"

"Who knows? I am a liar, after all."

"Huh? So you were lying just now?"

"Well, I am the supreme leader of an evil secret organization. That part was true!"

"So...were you lying or not?"

"Nee-heehee... I'm not telling youuuuu."

"What's the name of this secret organization?"

"It's a secret. Y'know, cuz it's a secret organization."

"I've never even heard of such an organization like it..."

"Of course you haven't. Because it's a secret organization."

"Hey, Keebo... Everything he's said so far has sounded like a lie, so that's gotta be a lie too, right?" I asked the robot.

"Just leave him alone. Everything he has been saying has been a lie. ...He's a far more suspicious person than I am, that's for sure." Keebo admitted.

"Well, of course you're not a suspicious person, because robots aren't people, silly." Kokichi mocked.

"Grgh...!" Keebo growled.

"Oh, you mad? Are you gonna hit me with a rocket punch?"

"I don't have that function!"

"Aw maaan, you're boring."

I didn't want anything more to do with what was going on, so I left the classroom.

_What a weird boy... He's like a mischievous little kid... This is no time to be joking around. Unless...he really is an evil supreme leader?_ I thought to myself as I headed down to the basement. I then opened the closest door to find myself inside a game room.

"A Game Room in a place like this?" I muttered.

"It is a bit strange. Sheesh...what a strange place. When I noticed we were trapped here, I didn't expect we'd have a Game Room." A deep male voice said.

I turned to see a man much shorter than me. He has cropped red hair, black eyes with no visible pupils, and rosy cheeks. He wears a black hat with two points that has a picture of two blue tennis rackets on it, a black leather jacket, and a black and dark blue striped jumpsuit underneath, similar to that of a prisoner. He wears black shoes with red soles and has a metal cuff attached to his left leg with a bit of a chain attached to it. His legs are notably much more muscular than the rest of his body. He also has a candy of some sort in his mouth.

"Are we really trapped here? Everyone else is looking for an exit, right?" I asked.

"Isn't that what everyone except you are walking around for? Then... they're on their own for that." The man muttered, pulling down his hat for a bit before lifting it back up to it's original position.

"Oh, o-okay..." I complied with a smirk.

"We may be trapped, but it's pretty cool here. Compared to prison anyway..." The man admitted.

"Prison..? What? But you're an Ultimate student, aren't you?" I asked.

"Hmph...that's an old story. **Ryoma Hoshi**, the man called the **Ultimate Tennis Pro**...no longer exists. I'm nothing more than his empty shell." The man, Ryoma muttered.

"Hold on, you're the tennis prodigy who took down a mafia single-handedly, right?" I theorized.

"Hmph, so you know that much already... Well? What do you think of the loser before you who used his talent to kill?" Ryoma asked.

"B-But...why would you throw away your future the way you did?" I wondered.

"Hmph, because I didn't need a **future** anymore..."

"Huh?"

"No...it's nothing. It's not like me to talk so much. Anyway...I'm warning you. It's dangerous to just walk up to a killer like me."

As he said that, Ryoma turned his back to me. I left the Game Room soon afterwards. I went down the basement hallway and went into the library.

Once there, I saw a girl with red eyes and very long, dark brown hair that she ties into twintails held by two big, red scrunchies. She has straight bangs that hide her eyebrows, as well as two small strands of hair that fall at the sides of her head, the one falling at her right side being a bit longer. She also has a beauty mark under her left eye. Despite having a slender physique, she does possess some muscle. She dons a red sailor-uniform accompanied by matching colored thigh-high socks, a short, pleated black plaid skirt, and brown ankle boots. The scarf on her uniform is a pale pink with a very slight visible star design on it. A pin of her former high school is on her breast pocket and an emblem at the bottom right of her shirt. Her accessories include a dark grey wristband that looks similar to magnetic bracelets athletes wear, small, silver stud earrings, a white hairpin at the side of her head, and a flower brooch on her right shoulder. She was silent when I approached her.

"Uh... Are you an Ultimate student too?" I asked.

"Yeah, that's right." She responded simply before staying silent again.

_Does she not talk much?_ I thought before introducing myself to her. "I'm Sharla Kuhlauf. I'm called the **Ultimate Sharpshooter**, but you can call me the **Ultimate Sniper**. What about you?"

"**Maki Harukawa**... **Ultimate Child Caregiver**..." The girl, Maki introduced herself.

"Ultimate Child Caregiver, huh..." I repeated her talent.

"...Surprised? I don't look like someone who'd like kids, do I?" Maki asked.

"Huh?"

"Well, you'd be right. I don't like kids all that much."

"B-But...if you're the **Ultimate Child Caregiver**, then children must like you a lot, right...?"

"Kids are...weird. They come to me on their own. I'm not that good at taking care of them... I'm not that friendly, either..."

"But they say kids are very intuitive. If they like you that much... ...then they can probably tell how loving you really are, Maki!"

"Yeah! That must be it! You've chosen a perfect career for yourself!"

Maki was silent before saying "...It wasn't my choice to begin with."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"...Nothing. It's just...I grew up in an orphanage and got saddled with helping out a lot."

_Orphanage, huh? I see..._ I thought to myself.

After bidding farewell to Maki. I left the library and went up to what I'd believe would be the entrance hall.

"Out of everyone I've encountered here, does whoever brought us here really want **17 people** here?" I asked myself.

"One can only hope that is the case." A raspy male voice answered for me.

I looked behind me to see a tall, slim student with rather pale skin and long ocean green hair. He has narrowed yellow eyes, and his mouth is covered by a black mask, covering his mouth and neck, with a zipper where his mouth would be, giving him an unsettling and mysterious appearance. He wears a dark green military-style uniform with knee-high black boots, a zipper lining the front and two straps over it. The uniform consists of a white button-up underneath it, a dark green button-up, a red armband around his left arm from a high school I somehow recognize, Sunset Hill High School, a green military regulation cap with the school's insignia on the top, and a decorative chain dangling from it. He wears what appears to be some kind of silver locket around his neck. Both of his hands are completely covered in bandages.

Somehow, this man feels familiar to me as well. Maybe it's his unsettling appearance or my memory's messing with me.

"Oh... Uhhh..." I stammered.

"You wonder, "Who is this?" Yes...I shall make that clear first. My name is **Korekiyo Shinguji**... I am called the **Ultimate Anthropologist**." The man, Korekiyo introduced himself.

"Korekiyo? Anthropologist?" I repeated. That name feels familiar too!

"Please, call me **Kiyo**. As for anthropology, would you like a simple explanation?" Kiyo asked.

"OK, sure..." I complied.

"Anthropology...studies customs, legends, folk tales, songs, and much more. There may even be customs in your daily life, the origins of which you do not know. For example...certain aspects of birthday or new year celebrations. Anthropology sheds light on traditions and customs such as these through rigorous analysis. It is a study that examines the thought behind culture, faith, and customs." The anthropologist explained.

"OK... I kind of understand, but not really. It sounds like a lot of fun though!" I pointed out.

"Well of course it's fun... It is a study focused on humanity. I believe...that human beings are creatures who possess infinite beauty."

"Oh, ummm..."

"I find all aspects of humanity—even the ugly parts—to be beautiful. Our present situation is rather...intriguing. What beauty will I be able to witness here? Kehe... Kehehehe... People are wonderful..."

_This guy looks like a creep... and **yet he still feels familiar to me**._ I thought before asking "Do you think the others could escape easily?"

"You should find the answers to such question on your own... The moment your hopes are shattered... That, too...may be beautiful..." Kiyo muttered.

_Sh-Shattered...? What does he mean by that?_ I thought to myself as I exited the building. Looking up at the wall surrounding the whole environment, I thought _No matter how many times I see it, I'll never get enough of this sight._

I walked up to a tall, young man with gel-spiked purple hair that's grown out both at the top and bottom of his head, that looked like a space jet coming out of a black hole and a short goatee. His eyes are a warm lilac, and he has fairly long eyelashes. He also has a slightly tanned complexion. He wears a white t-shirt with a strange crimson design stamped on it, on top of that he wears a long sleeved dress shirt with a breast pocket. On this shirt are black buttons which are currently not in use. On top of that, he wears a long, purple blazer with a galaxy design on the inside of it. However, his coat is worn improperly, instead, he wears his left sleeve and leaves the right side of the coat to drape over his shoulder to leave it fluttering to show the space design. He wears purple pants matching the color of his blazer that are rolled up over his ankles. He also wears slippers with the same galaxy design on them. He was also looking upward at the wall surrounding this environment.

"Geez... How'd the person behind this even make this big-ass wall?" He asked.

"I don't get it either. I wonder what will happen to us... If you guys can't escape then-" I started to say before being cut off by the man.

"What, are you complaining?"

"Huh?"

"Quit complaining and grumbling, or it'll turn into a habit. Besides, this cage is nothing compared to the vastness of the universe!"

"Huh? The universe?"

"Oops, I haven't introduced myself yet. My bad. I'm **Kaito Momota**, Luminary of the Stars! Even crying children adore the **Ultimate Astronaut**! How 'bout it!? I'm an astronaut! Isn't that cool?!"

"Yeah, I've only been to space once, so I only know little about it." I admitted.

"Haha! Well, of course! Not just anyone can get up there! I may be an astronaut, but... I'm actually still in training." Kaito exclaimed.

"So you're still a trainee..." I said.

"But I'm the first teenager to ever pass the exam! I mean, normally you need a college degree to even take the exam."

"Huh? Then how did you take the exam?" I asked in confusion.

"I had a friend who was pretty crafty... So I had him forge some stuff for me." Kaito admitted.

"Isn't that illegal?" I brought up.

"Yeah, I ended up getting caught. I was in pretty deep shit! But the people up top decided they liked me and let me in anyway. 'Course I aced the exam anyway."

"That's a bit reckless if you ask me." I said.

"Sometimes you gotta be a little reckless to make your dreams a reality! No way I can wait till after college! I wanna get to space as fast as I can!"

"You sure do have a lot of energy."

"Yeah, everyone told me it was impossible, but I never gave up! Not for a moment! That's because...limits don't exist unless you set them yourself! There are no walls you can't get over! The same goes for that one!"

"So, do have any ideas for how you and the others to escape?" I asked.

The astronaut was silent for a moment before saying "Th-That's not the problem!"

_Um...no, that __**is**__ the problem. Geez, this guy sure talks big game._ I thought to myself as I left.

I stopped by the dormitory to see a tall, thin young woman with pale, sandy blonde hair with a green tint and long bangs that obscure her left eye. Her skin is fairly pale, and her eyes are of a warm green color. Her maid uniform consists of a long black apron dress in a pinafore style with a spiderweb motif, four white buttons along the middle of the torso of her dress, and the button of what I assumed was her former high school emblem on the left. A white dress is donned underneath her apron dress with a black collar, and a purple tie around her neck. The sleeves of her shirt have elegant frills at the end, which goes along with the bubble skirt appearance of her dress. She wears a black headdress with black lace and frills attached to it, with four white pins on it, a common appearance that maids take up. She wears black, form-fitting gloves with silver rings attached to the back of her hands. Underneath her dress is a chic-combination of a petticoat with black lace and black tights, which she deems practical by not exposing her legs. She also wears grey, high-laced pinwheel shoes, the laces white and wrapped around her ankles and settling into a neat bow at her feet. She seemed to walk out of the dormitory deep in thought as I approached her.

"I fail to see their objective..." She muttered unexpectedly.

"Huh? What do you mean?" I asked.

"If they are holding us for ransom, a large facility such as this would be unnecessary. Furthermore, I gather they would rather care for us than hurt us. In light of this...I fail to see the true objective of the culprit responsible for kidnapping us." The woman explained.

_Culprit, huh...? I never even thought about that. Why would the one who attacked me go to all this trouble? Seventeen of us have been gathered here...but why? What's the reason?_ I thought to myself. The woman then seem to notice me.

"Pardon me...I have not introduced myself yet. I am **Kirumi Tojo** the **Ultimate Maid**. Please let me know if you require my service." Kirumi said.

"Oh, you're the private maid with work so perfect that you can complete any request given to you, aren't you?" I asked.

"Please, you are exaggerating...I will not complete any request that is asked of me. I once received a request to annihilate a rival nation, but as it was impossible I rejected it." The maid admitted.

"But being asked to do something like that is really impressive on it's own. What about those times you were hired as a bodyguard to several foreign dignitaries?" I mentioned.

"I have only been employed as a maid, not a bodyguard."

"But you've been hired by so many important people... You're, like, a super maid!"

"Moving on... What do you intend to do now?"

"It's hard to say. What would you do, Kirumi?" I asked.

"I hold no opinions or desires of which to speak. As a maid, my only desire is to fulfill the desires of others. So please, think about what you desire for yourself, and what you desire from me. No matter the situation, no matter what happens, I am here to serve everyone." Kirumi explained with a smile before leaving.

_Even in this situation, she's more concerned for others... Well, she is the Ultimate Maid, after all._ I thought to myself as I kept walking.

I eventually enter a cage-like garden with a waterfall. When I got in there, a young girl turned to face me. She has dark skin and round, blue eyes the color of the ocean. Her hair a pale platinum blonde that looks nearly white and is loosely tied into two wavy ponytails by small, thin hair bands. There are three dots surrounding her belly button, and it is very likely that they are small, silver bead piercings. She wears a white, frilly bikini top, the frills a very pale blue, presumably matching bikini bottoms under the blue skirt with white frills sewn to the bottom of it and a blue bow at the waistband. On top of her skirt, she wears a pink utility belt which holds various carving tools and paintbrushes. She also wears a yellow smock which reaches below her knees, sleeves loose and wide as they stop before her wrists. Her smock has black symbols on her shoulders, the insignia of a high school I seemed to recognize. Her shoes are simple white slip-ons with light grey soles. She has a white beaded bracelet on her left wrist, as well as another one on her right ankle. She also has a white pearled necklace with a seashell in the middle of it.

"Yah-hah! How are ya? My name is **Angie Yonaga**! I'm the **Ultimate Artist**!" The girl, Angie introduced herself with a wave. I'm hoping that's the last name I'm familiar with!

"You're pretty cheerful." I pointed out. _She's a bit too happy, considering the situation we're in right now..._ I thought.

"Nyahahaha! There's no reason to carry bad thoughts with ya! You gotta live every day like it's bright, cheery, and fun! ...So says **Atua**." The artist cheered.

"Atua?" I repeated.

"The god of my island, Atua, is always with me, speaking to me with His divine voice..."

_Oh, well, she's certainly devouted..._ I thought before asking "Do you specialize in painting or sculpting?"

"Hmmm... I do both. I paint paintings and I sculpt sculptures. But Atua's the one who makes the art. I merely offer my body as His vessel. Nyahahaha! How divine!"

"Amazing. If you don't mind, can you show me some of your artwork?"

"Of course, of course. In return, will you make an offering?"

"An offering..?" I repeated.

"Every Monday and Wednesday morning on my island, a truck comes to collect offerings." Angie explained.

"That sounds oddly similar to putting out the trash for pickup." I snarked.

"Don't worry, don't worry. When I say offering, I just mean a pint or two of your blood!" The artist exclaimed

My eyes widened. "What?!" I yelled as she got closer to me.

"C'mon, c'mon! It won't hurt one bit!" Angie pleaded.

"Hey! Hold on for a moment!"

"Nyahahahaha! Don't run away!"

_Th-This girl is so...weird! And yet, she feels so familiar to me! If my memory becomes less fuzzy, I might know why._ I thought to myself as Angie ran off.

I was alone in the garden. I wasn't expecting much until...

_**DING-DONG, BING-BONG**_

"What's that bell?!" I asked as I turned to the monitor.

It turned on and on the screen was five bears, all with their left side white. One was mechanical and green, another had a yellow tiger print and glasses, the third was red and was wearing a scarf, the forth was clearly female by her flower motif and was pink with stripes, and the last one had a punk rock vibe and was blue.

"Hiiii! Thanks for bear-ing with us!" The pink one cheered.

The green one kept silent as the blue one asked "Kept you bastards waiting, huh?!"

"Everyone, make your way to the gym please." The red one demanded.

"The **opening ceremony** can finally begin!" The blue one exclaimed.

"Phew! We finally finished our preparations!" The red one sighed.

"You do realize you just read your lines backwards, don't you?" The yellow one pointed out.

And in unison, all five shouted "So long! Bear-well!" and then the monitor turned off.

Opening ceremony?

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to go. Everyone else must be already heading down right now." I said to myself.

I ran back to the main building, rushed to the second floor, and eventually made to the doors leading to the gym. Sure enough, everyone was there.

"All 17 of us have gathered..." Kirumi muttered.

"Hmm, it's pretty spectacular seeing all 17 of us **Ultimates** gathered together." Kaito admitted.

"Kehehe... You may not be able to be so easygoing for much longer..." Kiyo mentioned.

"In this situation, it's no use thinking about things. So eventually, Tsumugi stopped thinking." Tsumugi said.

"Nyeeeh... What's gonna happen to us? I bet it'll be a big pain..." Himiko theorized.

"Hmmmmm..." Tenko hummed.

"What? What are you looking at?" The magician asked.

"Um... Himiko, you can use amazing powers, right? Cuz you're a psychic and stuff, right?"

"I'm not a psychic... I'm a mage."

"Whoooa! That's amazing! I definitely wanna incorporate that into Neo-Aikido! Hey, what sorta training did you undergo to gain your awesome powers?!"

"Talking about it is too tiring..."

"You're pretty lazy." Kaede snarked.

"Pardon me, but... we need to be on our guard. We do not know if and when danger will strike." Keebo advised.

"D-Don't say that... I'm so scared... I don't know what to do..." Kokichi stuttered.

"There is no need to worry. Atua will protect us." Angie encouraged.

"Phew! That's a relief." Kokichi said with a smile.

"Is your brain full of weeds or somethin'? I'll whack 'em outta that skull of yours!" Miu yelled.

"Don't worry about it! Just leave it to me! If those teddy bears from the monitors show themselves, I'll kick all of their asses!" Kaito told her.

"...Huh? What that?" Gonta said suddenly.

"Hm? What's wrong?" Ryoma asked the entomologist.

The sound Gonta heard rumbled in my ears. It sounded like a robot engine.

"Listen... Hear that?" Gonta asked.

"I hear it. What's that sound?" I wondered as I stepped back so I'm the closest to the stage.

"It sounds like an engine from a robot anime-" Tsumugi began to speak before being cut off by five mechanized walkers.

"Yoo-hoo! Rise and shine, ursine!" They shouted in unity.

Tsumugi screamed as Gonta shouted "Everyone, behind Gonta!"

"Wh-What the heck are these... monsters?!" Tenko asked in a panic.

"Whoooooaaaa! So cooool!" Kokichi admired.

"They're Exisals- highly mobile, bipedal weapons platforms! They got lotsa hometown pride, too!" The blue one claimed with pride.

"I can't keep track of these backstories..." The yellow one muttered.

"Wh-Whatever they are, they better kill off the uggos and save me for last!" Miu pleaded.

"Run, Himiko!" Kokichi yelled to her.

"Why are you concerned about me all of a sudden?" The self-proclaimed mage asked.

"Hm, didn't someone say they would "kick all of their asses"?" Maki asked the astronaut.

"Wh-What the hell?! Nobody told me about these!" Kaito yelled.

"Alright, chill out, no need to panic... We're probably not in any danger. If they wanted to kill us, they'd have done it by now." Rantaro pointed out.

He then walked up to the Exisals and told them "So... what do you want from us? You clearly want _something_, that's what the guns are for, right? Let me guess. You're gonna force us to do something, and if we don't, we get hurt."

_To be fair, I was thinking the same thing._ I thought.

"Well, you have our attention. So what do you want?" Rantaro asked.

"Huh. Well aren't you a wiseguy?" The yellow one mentioned.

"I'll start us off! Listen up! Here's what we want you punkasses to do... Hahhhhh! My heart's goin' 100 miles per hour! I'm gonna say it! You ready?!" The blue one dared.

"Of course, what is it?!" I asked.

"Hell yeah! It's a-" The blue one was suddenly cut off by the green one.

"**KILLING-GAME**."

"...What?" I asked in shock as my eyes widened in shock and horror.

"M-M-Monodam! How DARE you upstage me!" The blue one yelled.

"W-Wait a second. What did you say?" Tenko asked nervously.

"I-If I heard him correctly-" Keebo started to say but was cut off.

"KILLING-GAME." Monodam repeated.

"Oh! He said it again!" The red one yelled.

"Grrrrrrr! God damn it, Monodam! I'm gonna crush you with this here Exisal!" The blue one shouted.

"C'mon, we don't have time to fight amongst ourselves." The pink one pleaded.

"Yeah! If you don't stop fighting, I'm gonna crush you with this here Exisal!" The red one shouted.

"You too, Monotaro?" The pink one asked before shouting "If this is what it's comes to, then I will crush the four of you with this here Exisal!"

"Hey! Why are you including me?! Oh well! It's more appropriate for us to be hostile to each other!" The yellow one said angerly.

Things soon got heated. "You wanna go, jabroni?!" Monotaro asked.

"Who you callin' jabroni, jabroni?!" The blue one yelled back.

"What'd you say, jabroni?!" The yellow one shouted.

"I'll throw down any time, jabroni! Check yourself before you wreck yourself!" The pink one challenged.

"S-Seriously?! Are they gonna get it on right in front of us?!" Miu asked.

"Don't worry. Atua is watching over us." Angie said.

"In a situation like this, is he just going to watch?!" Tsumugi asked the artist.

"Either way, it's too dangerous! We need to get out of here or else-" Keebo was about to say before a high-pitched voice I recognized echoed from the stage behind me.

"Now, now, now..."

"What..?" Kaede asked.

"**My cute little cubs**... You gotta knock off this awful fighting."

"Oh! That voice!" The pink one realized.

The bears from the monitor jumped out of the Exisals and landed on the stage as I turned around to face them.

"Father?! Father, is that you?!" Monotaro asked.

"Papa Kuma! Papa Kumaaaaa!" The blue one yelled.

"Daddy?! Where are you, Daddy?!" The pink one called out.

"Daddy? Wait a second, your dad's the one who attacked me!" I yelled.

I've just remember what my attacker looked like now. Suddenly, the lights in the gym shut off on their own. Five spotlights shined onto the podium on the stage and the black and white bear that attacked me jumped out from behind and landed in front of the microphone with wings that soon popped off him.

"I am the god of this new world... and the **headmaster of the Ultimate Academy**! The one, the only... **Monokuma**! Nice to meetcha!" The bear, Monokuma greeted.

"Yayyyyy! Father's here!" Monotaro cheered.

"Hell yeah! Another epic entrance from Papa Kuma!" The blue one yelled.

"Daddy is soooo cool." The pink one admired.

Monodam remained silent.

While Monokuma rambled on about his cubs named Monotaro, Monosuke, Monophanie, Monodam and Monokid, I could only watch on in confusion and anger.

"Wh-What is this? What's going on?" Kaede asked.

"Another teddy bear appeared..." Tsumugi muttered.

"Yes, but that is no ordinary teddy bear. I can see it... the despair and madness swirling around that cursed thing..." Kiyo said.

Monokuma must have overheard that as he said "Woah... First of all, I'm no teddy bear. I'm Monokuma. And show some respect! I'm the headmaster of the **Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles**!"

"Headmaster..?" Maki repeated.

"It appears to be some sort of autonomous robot with a built-in A.I., like me..." Keebo exclaimed.

"Dong dong dong!" Monotaro said.

"The Exisals are different, though! They're brainless buckets of bolts!" Monosuke claimed.

"They're mindless pretty killing machines that can only be controlled by us, the Monokubs." Monophanie explained.

"Autonomous robots piloting weapons platforms... This is certainly turning into quite the story." Ryoma muttered.

"Well that may be, but what I'm worried about is this "killing game" you mentioned. What exactly does that mean?" Rantaro asked.

"I'm a bit curious myself." I admitted.

"Puhu...puhuhuhuhu..." Monokuma laughed.

"What is so amusing?" Kirumi asked.

"It's just... when I said it before, I kinda just phoned it in and now I feel awkward... I want you students with your Ultimate-level talents to participate in a killing game." Monokuma said.

"Hold a second! First you attack me and now you force us into a killing game?! Why would any do that?!" I shouted.

The other students started to shout and plead that they don't want to get involved in this. Monokuma looked down at me and said "I just thought you would be a perfect fit for this game. The only side effect of bringing you here is that **Flashback Lights don't work on you at all**."

"So that's why I still remember some of these guys' names and their appearance?" I asked.

"Pretty much. And before anyone asks, at the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles... the killing game is quite the refined, sophisticated experience!"

"Sophisticated experience?" Maki repeated.

"Yes... Here, the killing game is punctuated by **class trials**." Monokuma claimed.

"Class... trials..?" I muttered.

"Okay! Let us explain!" The Monokubs exclaimed.

"Alright, so if one of you maggots kills someone, you all gotta take part in a class trial." Monotaro started.

"The class trial is where the **blackened** killer faces off against their **spotless** classmates." Monosuke claimed.

"It's where you punkass bitches argue over who you fuckin' think the blackened is! After that, it's **Voting Time**! And if the majority of you idiots vote correctly..." Monokid said with pride.

"Th-Then only the blackened killer will receive pu-pu-**punishment**... Hrk..! So cruel... Just imagining all the blood and gore... makes me want to puke..." Monophanie whimpered.

"After the blackened is **punished**, the rest of youse'll just keep right on livin' together." Monosuke mentioned.

"But! If you vote for the wrong person during the class trial... The blackened gets off scot-free, and all the spotless students get **punished** instead!" Monotaro pointed out.

Monodam stayed silent as Monokid yelled "Hell yeah! Them's the rules of the class trial! Woo-hoo-hoo! AOOOWWW!"

"Ahhh, too much! That explanation revealed way too much! You gotta be more coy! Flirtatious! Seductive! Just like your old man!" Monokuma shouted.

"Gross..." Himiko groaned.

"The point is, it's not enough to kill someone. You also have to **survive the class trial**." Monokuma exclaimed.

"Kill without being caught, and then survive the trial... Sounds eerily similar to the real world." Rantaro remarked.

"You think so? Then the outside world must be masterfully designed- even at it's cruelest." The twisted bear theorized.

"One can likely imagine... but I shall ask, just in case... What is the "**punishment**" you mentioned earlier?" Kiyo asked.

"Simply put, it's an **execution**!"

"E-**Execution**?!" Gonta repeated.

Monokuma got in my face and I saw the piecing glow in his evil eye as he explained.

"If you do a crime, you get punished for it. That's, like, the most basic rule of society. But this is a killing game, so the punishment for murder is a bit more... **permanent**."

"Now with that out of the way... Let's get this **killing school semester** started already!" Monokuma demanded afterwards.

His red eye glowed again as he got close to me. "You have free rein to murder however you like, too. Anything you can think of! **You can kill anybody you like, anyway you like**! At the **Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles**, you will realize your murderous potential! **Seventeen teenage prodigies**, all competing for first place in a killing game, and **five traitors** lurk among them... There's no better setting for an event like this than the **Ultimate Academy**!

"**Killing school semester**... It's like a game." I heard Rantaro say.

"Kehehe... risking our lives for some silly game is absurd." Kiyo muttered.

Everyone was whispering about how this can't be true when Shuichi said "I-I don't want... to be in a killing game... It's wrong, I... I'd never do that."

"Puhuhu... Well, if you don't wanna participate in the killing game, that's gonna be a problem... Cuz the killing game is the only reason you're here." Monokuma exclaimed.

"...What?"

"Please! Why should we do this?! You don't even know what some of us been through!" I shouted.

"Come on now, Sharla. Why else would I bring you here? Where's that **special hope** you always have? As **your memories become less fuzzier**, the **truth about who the traitors are will become more clear**!" Monokuma cheered.

I could only look on as the gym echoed with Monokuma and the Monokubs' laughter. This whole ordeal was insane! Five traitors... all lurking among this group. And the truth to become clear when my memories become less fuzzier. Against my will, I was now involved in this twisted game.

**...**

**End of Prologue: Ultimate Awakening**

**Surviving Members: 17**

**Present Obtained: Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles Badge - Proof that you cleared the Prologue. It's a badge of the Ultimate Academy insignia. Apparently, there are only 17 of these in the world.**


	3. Chapter 1: HCT, OCT - Part 1

As soon as Monokuma and the Monokubs left, I've heard something in my jacket pocket. In fact, the sound echoed all over the gym. Everyone else must have gotten one of those Monopads, at least that what was on the screen. I slowly read the Ultimate Academy's regulations one-by-one.

_**#1: Students must live at the Ultimate Academy for the remainder of their foreseeable future.**_

_**#2: Once a murder takes place, all surviving students must participate in a class trial. Participation is mandatory for all surviving students.**_

_**#3: If the blackened is exposed during the class trial, they alone will be executed.**_

_**#4: If the blackened is not exposed or an incorrect student is identified, all remaining students will be executed.**_

_**#5: If the blackened survives the class trial, they will graduate and will earn the right to re-enter the outside world. **_

_**#6: The killing game and class trials will continue until only two surviving students remain.**_

_**#7: "Nighttime" is from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. The dining hall and gymnasium are off-limits during this time. **_

_**#8: Violence towards Monokuma, the headmaster of the Ultimate Academy, is strictly prohibited. **_

_**#9: Monokuma will never directly commit a murder. **_

_**#10: Your Monopads are very important items. Please do not damage them. **_

_**#11: The "Body Discovery Announcement" will play when three or more students discover a body. **_

_**#12: With minimal restrictions, you are free to explore the campus at your discretion. **_

_**#13: Students who violate these rules will be immediately exterminated by the Exisals. **_

_**#14: The headmaster may add additional regulations to this list at any time.**_

"No way. Why is this happening to me?" I asked myself.

I could only listen to the other students's mummers of their plans to escape. I think Gonta mentioned something about a manhole in the boiler room...

**...**

**Begin Chapter 1: Her Class Trial, Our Class Trial**

I entered the boiler room later to see that everyone else was already there. Rantaro seemed to notice me as he spoke, "Looks like we're all here. So, where's this manhole?"

"Umm... Over there, in grass." Gonta said as he pointed at the covered manhole in question.

"An important hole near some bush?! Sounds familiar, am I right ladies?!" Miu asked excitedly.

_I don't want to know what she's implying..._ I thought.

"Awwwww, this manhole cover looks heavy. Can we even lift it?" Angie muttered.

"I can try."

After saying that, Keebo placed his hands on the manhole cover, and with all of his strength he tried to lift it, groaning while doing so.

"How embarrassing. It won't even budge." The robot said in embarrassment.

"Huhhh? A robot's not even strong enough to move it?" The artist asked.

"Oh, don't worry. My physical strength is approximate to that of a strong senior citizen." Keebo claimed.

_Keebo, you __**do**__ realize how strong that actually is, right?_ I thought.

"Th-That's fuckin' pathetic!" Miu shouted.

"Th-The professor did not want a repeat of the tragedy that occurred during trial production." The robot explained.

"Umm... Now I'm just plain curious about what happened during that trial..." Tsumugi admitted.

"Oh, then allow Gonta. Gonta lift cover before to peek inside. Should be able to pick up cover too." Gonta advised.

Luckily for the others, he was able to lift up the cover and by Kirumi's request, he tossed the cover aside and it easily flew five yards before it hit the ground. Afterwards, the others started to climb down the manhole.

"Sharla, are you coming?" Shuichi asked, noticing that I wasn't going.

"Oh. I'm gonna see what else this... Ultimate Academy has to offer. Tell the others that if they want me to heal their wounds, I'll be looking around this crazy place." I told him.

"O-OK..." The detective muttered as he went down into the manhole.

As I walked out of the boiler room, I heard Monokuma's voice from seemingly out of nowhere.

"Huh? You're not trying to escape and are actually accepting that you're in this killing game?"

I turned to see the twisted bear right in front of me.

"I just wanted to see what else was in store here. So, what do you want now?" I asked.

"Puhuhu... You're one lucky gal that you get access to **your dorm and research lab** earlier than any other student in this school then!" Monokuma exclaimed.

"My dorm and research lab? Wait a second, how did you know I didn't go with them?!" I asked.

"I'll tell you everything in your dorm! Meet me there on the **first floor**!" The twisted bear told me before running off, though it was more of a waddle.

_It makes sense that my dorm is in the main building. The dormatory looks like it could only hold dorms for 16 students._ I thought to myself as I went inside the main building.

Looking around the first floor, I saw a black door with golden rims and handles with a blue heart and a light yellow sniper aimer on it. I went inside to see that the place was larger on the inside. The walls were a light yellow, the floor was in red carpet, there were light brown roots with water Ether crystals hanging from them, golden candle holders with lit midnight blue candles on them, a target area with my rifle on the rifle holder, the doors had the same symbols as on the outside, there were light blue transparent curtains everywhere, an area filled with collectables from my home inside, and a medical ward. In the distance, I saw a shower and a really fluffy bed. Sure enough, Monokuma was on the bed.

"Puhuhu... So what do you think?" He asked.

"I will admit that this looks amazing even though these colors are a little bright." I admitted before continuing, "So, how did you know I wasn't trying to escape anyway?"

"Just between you and me..."

Suddenly, Monokuma's red eye glowed as he got closer to me, causing me to yell in fear.

"That **special hope** you always had is stronger than I could ever imagine! So once everyone else accepts that they're stuck here for the rest of their lives, your **special hope** with cause the **traitors to remember who they really are**!" He explained.

"**Special hope**? You don't mean..?!" I shouted before trailing off.

"Puhuhu... So you figured it out? Well then, you better be ready for tomorrow 'cause that's when I reveal the **first murder motive**!" Monokuma said before he bounced off, leaving me alone in my room.

Upon hearing the nighttime annoucement from the Monokubs, I put on a nightgown and got into bed.

As I went to sleep, a soft, gentle piano melody played in my heart.


	4. Chapter 1: HCT, OCT - Part 2

_**DING-DONG, BING-BONG**_

I was woken up by the Monokubs' morning annoucement. Geez, what a night it was. I swore I heard Kaede crying and the others screaming and yelling at her.

_What happened between them? Clearly their escape plan didn't go as planned and things got really wild, huh?_ I thought as I exited my room after putting on a fresh set of clothes and putting my Battle Gem in my jacket pocket.

I could already hear them talking when I entered the dining hall. They all went silent and turned to face me.

"What..? Is something wrong?" I asked.

"It's nothing, we already knew you were the odd duck out, so your absence last night makes sense to me." Rantaro admitted.

"Heh, you still have ways to go then, Sharla..." Ryoma muttered.

"There you go calling me the odd duck out again." I snarked before continuing, "So, what exactly happened last night? I heard you guys screaming at Kaede from my room all night."

"Well, we couldn't escape. But no matter how many times some of us wanted to stop, Kaede refused to let anyone give up!" Tsumugi said angerly.

"So in a nutshell, this is completely Kaeidiot's fuckin' fault!" Miu shouted in rage.

"Stop, everyone! Gonta think Kaede not to blame!" Gonta pleaded.

"I too think that Kaede shouldn't be held accountable." Kirumi admitted.

From there, it was hard for anyone to stay calm. I could only look on as arguments flew everywhere. I saw Kaede quivering and with tears starting to form in her eyes. Until finally, she broke down.

The arguing ceased as tears started to flow on Kaede's cheeks and soft sobs shook her body.

"K-Kaede?!" Shuichi called out her name in worry.

"Ah! Don't listen to them! This isn't your fault!" I cried out.

"S-Sharla... I..." Kaede wimpered.

I walked up to her with a soft smile and pulled her into a conforting hug.

The pianist seemed to let out a yelp of surprise as I held her tight.

"Your plans might've not turned out the way you hoped they would. But that shouldn't deter you from what's more important. Besides, there's still a chance for you to **fight for your own future**." I told her.

"Fight... for my own future..?" Kaede repeated.

"Yes. If you can't escape then maybe there's a **way to end the killing game**."

"Ah! That's it! Thank you, Sharla!" Kaede said with a smile as I let go of her.

"No problem." I replied.

"Alright then, let's figure out ways to get out of this killing game." The pianist remarked.

Before the discussion could begin, Monokuma appeared out of nowhere declaring "Before you do that, I have an announcement!"

Kaede screamed as Tsumugi shouted "Hey, don't just suddenly show up! It's too much stress for my heart!"

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to not surprise you." Monokuma said.

"So you did mean to surprise us." Himiko snarked.

_You took the words right out of my mouth, Himiko._ I thought.

"Well? Your announcement?" Rantaro asked.

"It's not terribly important, but... It's easier to stay alive by being an obvious goody two-shoes, right? Being thrust into a killing game doesn't mean you'll be able to kill someone easily... So I figured I'd ease you guys into the killing game by giving you **motivation to kill**." Monokuma explained.

"...Motivation to kill?" Maki repeated.

"In short, a **motive**! That oughta add some mystery to the proceedings! Even if a killer is exposed, they could whip up a sob story to deceive everyone!"

"Wh-What are you saying? Your logic is impossible to understand..!" Keebo asked.

"I will now announce the first motive! Make sure you record this moment for posterity!"

Once again, Monokuma glared at me with his glowing red eye as he spoke.

"Now then, the special motive I've prepared is called the **First Blood Perk**! Wow! For the first murder that occurs, no class trial will be held! Can you believe it? That means the first one to kill someone will get to graduate, no strings attached!"

"What?! But that means everyone else will die!" I shouted.

"Puhuhu... That's right!" Monokuma declared

"You're insane! We'll show you! **We will end this killing game**!" I exclaimed.

"Oh? You do realize that's not gonna be easy, right?" Monokuma asked curiously.

"I'm aware, just you wait!" I challenged.

"Well then, good luck trying to end it! 'Cause **I'm not finished with you yet, Sharla**!" The twisted bear exclaimed as he left.

I was breathing hard. "I thought that bear would never leave..." I muttered.

"Um, wh-what just happened..?" Tsumugi asked, clearly shaken up by this turn of events.

"This is... truly an unexpected moment." Kiyo admitted.

"Sharla, wh-what did Monokuma mean?" Shuichi asked.

"Yeah, what did that insane bear mean by **he's not done with you yet**?" Kaito brought up in confusion.

"The truth is... **I knew Monokuma was going to reveal the First Blood Perk**." I confessed.

"Nyeh?!" Himiko let out a yelp in shock.

"You knew..?" Kirumi muttered.

"Yes. I'm sorry for hiding it from you."

"I'm a little worried that Monokuma's making you a target. Has he done anything to make you hide this truth?" Rantaro asked.

"You all saw it, right? It terrifies me that he's causally talking to me like anyone else and not treating me like rest of you. It's like being stalked by Gadolt after he became Jade Face."

"So this isn't the first time you gazed into the Eyes of the Devil?" Tsumugi asked.

"When you put it like that, yes."

"He also mentioned something about five traitors hiding among us, right?" Ryoma pondered.

"Now that you bring that up, I do remember **something that all of them should have**."

After saying that, I took my Battle Gem out of my waistcoat for all of them to see. The vibrant turquoise color shined in their eyes. The golden wings on the sides seemed speak out to Gonta, Kiyo, Tsumugi, Angie, and Kokichi especially. The vibrant turquoise heart-shaped gemstone in golden rims gave it some volume to them.

"What is that?" Kaede asked.

"Is it **a hint** to who the fuckin' traitors are?" Miu asked.

"This is a **Battle Gem**. Magical gems created from Ether that contain god-like power, they can give the user power beyond anything you can imagine. Mine is one of the few that can **alter fate itself**. As far as I know, **all five traitors** have one of these powerful objects. One of which, can also alter fate." I explained.

"So **anyone else who has one of those divine gemstones** are the traitors?" Angie asked.

"Yes. But I know finding the traitors is not gonna be easy." I brought up.

"And once **your memory grows less fuzzier**, the traitors won't have anywhere to run to!" Kaito mentioned.

"That sounds all well and good but, what do we do in the meantime?" Maki asked.

"M-Maybe we should wait and see what happens by tomorrow." Shuichi advised.

"That sounds good to me." Kaede admitted.

After that, all seventeen of us went off on our own things to do. By the time it was nighttime, I couldn't help but think to myself before heading to sleep.

_If the traitors aren't aware that they have a Battle Gem on them. They just don't know yet! If my **special hope** is as powerful as Monokuma says it is, then **they're gonna remember** at some point!_


	5. Chapter 1: HCT, OCT - Part 3

The next day, I immediately went to to the dining hall. I had a feeling that Monokuma was planning something on today when he said that he wasn't done with me yet yesterday.

_Still, why do I get this feeling that all of us will be put in danger. I can't believe I'm saying this but, I hope Monokuma makes that clear..._ I thought to myself.

Luckily, everyone was there. It looks like no one acted upon the First Blood Perk last night.

"Thank the stars, we're all alive." I said.

"Even though there's no way of knowing who would kill someone yet." Kokichi muttered.

"Typical of a degenerate male to sour the mood!" Tenko scolded.

"Well, I highly doubt that Monokuma would let this slide." Kiyo theorized.

"Either way, I'm a little concerned for our odd duck out considering how Monokuma treats her." Rantaro admitted.

"You're still calling me that?" I asked.

"Wh-What... makes you think that? It's not like **him and his cubs will show up now**." Tsumugi muttered.

"Rise and shine, ursine!"

That shout indicated the arrival of Monokuma and the Monokubs.

"You just had to fuckin' say it!" Miu shouted at the cosplayer.

"Sorry!" Tsumugi apologized

"Puhuhu... I wasn't kidding when I said **I wasn't done with you yet**, Sharla!" Monokuma said with pride.

"Just like Father to keep his promises!" Monotaro exclaimed.

"Hell yeah! Papa Kuma will resort to anything to drive Sniper Chick insane!" Monokid yelled.

"Sniper Chick?!" I shouted before asking, "Hold on! What are you gonna do now?! All of us are still alive!"

"Well... let's just say a bear like me is gonna announce a **plot twist** at some point." The twisted bear snarked.

"Is this some kind of joke?!" Kaito asked.

"I assumed this would happen... This development was not surprising to me." Kirumi admitted.

"Is that so? Then did you also assume this next exciting development?"

All of a sudden, Monokuma's red eye glowed in front of me as he his arms outwards and he declared "Ahem! Now then, I'm pleased to announce an **additional motive**!"

"An additional motive?!" Kaede repeated.

"A **time limit** is now in effect! If a murder does not occur by **nighttime, two days from now**... then **every student participating in this killing game will die**! Mauled to shreds by countless Monokumas from the rummored Monokuma-making machine! So unless you wanna end up as pink smears, you might wanna take this game seriously! Ahhhhh-hahahahaha!"

"T-Time limit?" Gonta repeated.

"What? Everyone will die?" Ryoma asked.

"What?! That's not fair!" Tenko shouted.

As Monokuma and his cubs rambled on about how the Exisals were supposed to kill us, I off-handly thought _Pink smears? Won't it be more like crimson smears?_

"Th-That's enough!" Kaede shouted nervously.

"Oh. You're still here." Monokuma snarked.

"Of course! We never left! So just leave us alone!" I yelled.

"Fine. It's your choice. You all can die working together or you can survive on your own. It's your call."

"So long! Bear-well!"

Monokuma and the Monokubs after that. I could tell there was only fear and despair among us.

"What are we going to do? Nighttime in two days... will be here in an instant." Tsumugi muttered.

"Th-There's gotta be somethin' we can do... I can't die... The world needs my genius!" Miu whimpered.

"I-I don't wanna... I... don't wanna die yet!" Kokichi cried.

"You don't need to worry. Atua will welcome you with open arms." Angie said.

"That's after we die, right?" Himiko pointed out.

"W-We can't panic about something like this. I'll... do something about it." Kaito said.

"...Did you have a course of action in mind?" Keebo asked.

"I'm... gonna start thinking of one right now!" The astronaut yelled.

"...Figures. I didn't expect anything from you in the first place." Maki admitted.

"W-We gotta fight back, then..!" Gonta advised.

"Y-Yeah! If we strike them with some sneak attacks, we might have a chance at winning!" Tenko shouted.

"What kind of Aikido moves even involve sneak attacks?" Tsumugi asked.

"Come, everyone! Gonta use body, keep everyone safe!" The entomologist exclaimed.

"You're going to go against those machines barehanded? Isn't that too reckless?" Ryoma asked.

"B-But... we have to do it! If we don't, we'll die!" Tenko said in a panic.

"Wait! We still have plenty of time to calculate all possible options-" Keebo started to say by was cut off by Kiyo.

"We've no time to be indecisive. We are being urged to make a decision... To die fighting... Or die from the time limit." The anthropologist explained.

"Why do both choices involve us dying?!" Tsumugi asked.

"N-No way... Are we really gonna die? I don't wanna die yet... I'm gonna survive! I'm gonna make it no matter what!" Kokichi yelled with tears in his eyes.

"No matter what?" I repeated.

"Wait! You can't do that, though! Even if you make a mistake, you can't-" Kaede started to say before the purple-haired boy cut her off.

"Then you'll accept the blame?"

"Huh?"

"Will you accept the blame if I die? I have people who'll be sad if I die, y'know."

"U-Um... Well-"

"Nee-heehee... I'm lying. No one will be sad if I die. ... But I dunno if the same can be said for everyone else. Anyway... I'm gonna take off now."

"Take off? Where are you going, Kokichi?" Rantaro asked.

"Oh, I don't knooow. Maybe I'll go back to my room and just think things over. Alone." Kokichi responded before he left the dining hall.

"A-Alone in your room? What do you mean by that? Are you invitin' me to come kill you?" Miu asked annoyed.

"Miu?" Kirumi called out her name concerned.

"N-Not that I'd... try to claim that perk for myself... I-I'm way too classy to kill someone! Talkin' to you idiots is exhausting... I'm gonna go to my room and rest!" The inventor exclaimed before she left the dining hall.

"Miu! You better not do anything shady, OK?!" I shouted as she left.

"There is no need to worry, is there? No one is going to... kill anyone, right?" Keebo asked.

"If someone is going to kill, they should just go for the robot." Himiko muttered.

"That's even worse!" The robot shouted in panic.

"Hmm... so everyone feels that killing is wrong... But why is that?" Kiyo pondered.

"What?" I asked in confusion.

"Of course I know it to be against the law. But laws are simply rules people decide upon. This is a space removed from those rules. Therefore, we've no need to follow them." The anthropologist explained.

"Don't say stupid shit like that! Even kids know killing is bad! It's common sense!" Kaito shouted.

"Even if it is to survive..? We are as guinea pigs upon a lab table... We cannot be picky about our means of survival."

"Wh-What?"

"Kehehe... I only wish to observe the beauty of humanity and witness the depths of it's sins. So you've no need to fear me."

After that, Kiyo left the dining hall. Kaede called out to him but the anthropologist was already gone.

"M-Males in the soft sciences are pretty soft themselves, so I don't think he'll do anything..." Tenko admitted.

"He's not wrong, though. If we want to stay alive, standing around grumbling's not gonna change anything. As things are, we're not all going to escape together.. we're going to die together. Are you guys OK with that?" Ryoma asked before leaving the dining hall.

"H-Hold on, everyone... We haven't decided on our plan yet..." Kaede whimpered.

"...You can decide that on your own." Maki said.

"Huh?"

"Your half-assed speaches won't work on us anymore, you know that, right? So just come up with a plan for yourself." The caregiver muttered as she began to leave.

"Wait... Maki, wait!" The pianist pleaded but Maki had already left the dining hall.

"I'm just gonna pray to Atua." Angie said as she left.

"Yeah... Can I just go and think by myself for a little? It's a shame I won't be able to hide all my 'special' art commissions before I die... *sigh* Or that 'special' pillowcase I bought... What should I do?" Tsumugi muttered before she followed Angie out of the dining hall.

"B-But... Wait, you guys... You guys! You can't listen to Monokuma!" Kaede pleaded.

"Everyone, what wrong? Why everyone scatter?" Gonta asked.

"Tch... Fine then, all of you just do whatever you want." Kaito muttered angrily.

"This is exactly what Monokuma wants us to do... So what else is part of his plan? Is my memory part of it too? If it is, then... can I even trust myself?" Rantaro pondered.

"Rantaro..? What's wrong?" Shuichi asked.

"'What's wrong,' he says... Hey, I have a question that might relate to the traitors hiding among us. This might sound a little weird, but... Does the term **Killing Titan War** ring a bell for anyone?" The green-haired boy responded.

"What is that? I've never heard of it." Kaede wondered

"It does for me. It was the event that begun throughout the Bionis and the Mechonis after I found out about the future of the world." I exclaimed.

"So, you figured it out, huh? I would keep that term in mind if I was you. Maybe **it'll help you find who the traitors are**. So I'm asking you to... bear with me if I say things that don't make sense sometimes."

Afterwards without looking back, Rantaro just waved his hand and left the dining hall.

"Hey, Shuichi? What should we do right now?" I asked.

"...We need to move." The detective said suddenly.

"Huh? Move?" Kaede repeated.

Shuichi approached me and her, as if wary of his surroundings, and said in a hushed voice, "This morning, before I came to the dining hall, I noticed **dust from the card reader on the floor**."

"You mean, in the library?" The pianist asked.

"Yes..."

"Shuichi, can me and Kaede help you in any way?" I asked.

"Of course, Sharla... But we should go. We shouldn't be talking in the open like this." Shuichi advised.

"What's up with you guys? What're you whispering about?" Kaito asked in confusion.

"W-We're not whispering. We're just gonna check on something." Kaede replied.

"And that thing you want to check is a secret?" The astronaut wondered.

"S-Sorry... All I can say is... I haven't given up. I'll show you guys that we can escape from this place. You can count on it!" The pianist said with pride.

"I see... Well if that's how it is, then I'll believe in you."

"Thanks..."

After that, me, Kaede, and Shuichi went out of the dining hall and into the hallway.

"Are we heading to the library?" I asked.

"Yes... I'll tell you everything there." Shuichi confirmed.

The three of us went down to the basement and entered the library. The detective immediately ran to the bookcase where the hidden door was.

"Alright, I'll explain everything. First, take a look at the card reader."

As he said that, he moved the bookcase to reveal the hidden door.

_**Ramble! Ramble! Ramble Ramble!**_

I took a peek into the gap of the card reader.

"The dust is gone!" I exclaimed.

"That's right. I checked it right after nighttime started yesterday, and the dust was there. But this morning, it was gone." Shuichi explained.

"So that means... **someone entered this door during nighttime**?" Kaede asked.

"I've been thinking..." I muttered before turning to face both of them. "With the way Monokuma gave out the additional motive, **one of us went into this killing game willingly instead of being forced**. So that means they can **avoid execution without violating any rules**. Maybe that's why Monokuma said it the way he did."

"And that person is the **one in our group who's cooperating with Monokuma and is one of the traitors**?" Kaede asked.

"I don't know if Monokuma is _that_ strict with rules, but if he is trying to **protect someone**... that would imply that **they're doing more than just cooperating with Monokuma**." Shuichi theorized.

"What?" The pianist said in shock.

"If what Shuichi said was true and if one of us is cooperating with Monokuma then... They are the **mastermind of this killing game and one of the five traitors hiding among us**." I exclaimed.

"So the person responsible for our suffering is... one of us?" Kaede asked in fear.

"Of course, this is just what I've deduced, but it is entirely possible. That's why I didn't want to talk about this in front of everyone... If we told them now, they might all try to find the mastermind, and be led to murder. That's why... I could only tell you with Sharla's help, Kaede." Shuichi explained.

_The mastermind... The one controling Monokuma... It's hard to believe that the person responsible for our suffering could be among us as a traitor... It's hard to accept but, if it's true... I can't forgive them..._ I thought to myself.

"So... what do you plan to do now, Shuichi? We're gonna find this mastermind, right?" Kaede asked.

"I'm... thinking of taking the risk, just before time expires. I believe the mastermind will come here just before time is up, and I can expose them." The detective explained.

"Wait, how do you know they'll come here right before time's up?" I asked.

"In order to execute all of us, the mastermind would have to come here to get inside the hidden room. Of course, none of this is certain. There's a chance the mastermind won't show. Like I said... it's a risk. But I'm still willing to take it. It's better than just sitting around, waiting to die."

"Yeah... I'll take that risk with you!" Kaede exclaimed.

"I'll take the risk too." I obliged.

"Ah, but... Kaede... Sharla, this is just _my_ deduction, it's possible that I'm wrong..."

"Yeah, we know. But we've made up our minds. You told us about this, so that must mean you trust us, right, Shuichi? Then... we'll trust you, too." The pianist exclaimed.

Shuichi stayed silent as I told him "Neither of us have a idea on what to do so we'll help you with yours. **Let's expose the mastermind together**, Shuichi! What have we got to lose?"

"Thank you, Sharla. You... have a way of encouraging us." The detective said.

"I never expected this to happen, though... I can't believe that **our enemy is within our group, hiding in plain sight**." Kaede admitted.

"...Yeah." Shuichi sighed.

"Now that we know this, I should stop saying **everyone** needs to work together... But whoever the mastermind is, we'll expose them and help everyone else escape! And when this is all behind us, we're gonna stay good friends! That's a promise, OK?!"

"...R-Right." Shuichi said as he blushed.

After we re-applied the dust to the card reader, I left Shuichi and Kaede and then returned to my room.

_Whoever the mastermind is... **They're gonna remember soon**! I'm sure of it!_ I thought to myself. The same soft melody from before played in my heart.

I've spent the rest of the day giving Tenko and Ryoma Ether rifle lessons. They seemed interested in my Ultimate Talent, so I may as well take this opportunity while I still can.

When the nighttime announcement was made, I thought _At this rate, the time limit will expire before we know it..._


	6. Chapter 1: HCT, OCT - Part 4

The next day, I went to the dining hall to find Shuichi, Kaede, and Miu there. From the sounds of it, Shuichi must have found cameras and security sensors in the warehouse. It makes sense they would talk to Miu, she's the Ultimate Inventor after all!

"Morning, Miu." I said.

"Well, if it isn't Shyla. What do you and your large tits want?" The inventor asked.

_I'll just pretend I didn't hear that..._ I thought.

"I'm just here to ask you for a small favor. Right, Shuichi?" I replied.

"Y-Yeah. Actually, there's something that we want you to make... We found cameras and security sensors in the warehouse, and, ah... Do you think you could make **cameras that detect movement and take pictures**? As in, it would **automatically take a picture if the motion sensor detects something**?" The detective explained.

"The hell you gonna use that for?" Miu wondered.

"Ah, to... **keep Monokuma under surveillance**. We might learn important information." Shuichi muttered.

"Y-Yeah, exactly that. Please, Miu... We need your help to get everyone out of here." Kaede pleaded.

"Ah, OK. I get it now. My answer is no!" The inventor shouted.

"What?"

"You plebs got a lotta nerve askin' ME for a favor! Were you grubs in a past life? Is that why you don't understand basic human courtesy? I'll forgive you just this once. Now get outta here before I whip out the bug spray! Hah-hahaha!"

Without thinking, Kaede's body seemed to move on it's own and then me and her bowed down to her as the inventor looked on in disbelief.

"Please, Miu!" The pianist pleaded once again.

Miu let out a sound of shock and disbelief as I said "We want to get out of here with everyone! And to do that, we need your help! So... please! We're begging you!"

"K-Kaede! Sharla!"

Suddenly, Shuichi bowed down to Miu too.

"Shuichi?" Kaede muttered.

"I'm begging you, too. We could really use your help, Miu. Please..." The detective pleaded.

"Wh-What the hell..? Quit bowing to me..." Miu asked.

"No I won't stop. I'm gonna stay like this until you say you'll do it, Miu! I'll do it for however long it takes!" Kaede exclaimed.

"Wh-Who the hell uses bowing as a threat? F-Fine, I'll do it... OK?" The inventor obliged.

"What?! Really?!" Kaede asked as she grabbed Miu's hand.

"Heeee!" The inventor let out a yelp of shock.

"Thank you, I owe you! Even after we escape, I'll owe you forever and ever and ever!" The pianist cheered.

"I-I'm not doing it for you guys... My research lab in the garden just opened up, so... I... I was already thinkin' about... checkin' it out... S-So... can I have my hand back now? Cuz this is startin' to creep me out..."

"Oh! Sorry, I was just so happy. But... are your hands always this clammy?"

"Heeee! A-Anyway... bring me the security sensors and cameras before I change my mind... I'll be waiting in my research lab in the garden!"

After that exchange with Kaede, Miu wobbled out of the dining hall as if she had been thrown off balence on the Hollow Bone on Valak Mountain.

"At least we managed to convince her." I sighed in relief.

"Let's go to the warehouse to get the cameras and sensors right away." Shuichi advised as we exited the dining hall.

The three of us headed to the warehouse. The shelves were full of multi-colored boxes and seemed to reach the roof.

"This place is huge! I hope we can find all the things we're looking for." Kaede said.

"Ah, don't worry, I know where the cameras and sensors are... I'll go get them. You two can wait here." Shuichi advised as he went to the back of the warehouse.

I noticed that there were multiple sports equipment around here. Kaede looked inside a wooden box.

"Are these... **iron balls**? They look like they're for **shot put**..." She pondered as she picked one up and from the way she flinched, it was as heavy as it looked.

"...Kaede? What are you doing?" Shuichi asked. He was holding multiple things in his arms.

"Oh, Shuichi. Done already?" The pianist asked.

"Yeah, I've got the cameras. I think three should be enough." The detective said as he showed us the three cameras.

"**Disposable cameras**? Will these work?" I asked.

"That's all they had. But they work, it should be fine. There's also **photo developing solution** here, so we don't have to worry about that."

"Well, if you're fine with them..."

"Yeah... Three cameras should be OK."

Shuichi handed me a security sensor as he spoke, "Also, here's a security sensor... When **this sensor picks up movement... it triggers this receiver to make a sound**."

As he said this, he showed me the black receiver in his hand.

"We should get three of these as well..." The detective advised.

"As huge as this warehouse is, I didn't expect it to have security sensors in stock." Kaede admitted before asking "Oh, **do you want me to carry the camera****s**? I can put them in **my backpack**. I only have my music sheets and a spare vest, so there's still lots of room inside."

"Alright... Let's go talk to Miu." I said as Shuichi gave the cameras to Kaede and I put the security sensor in my jacket pocket.

The three of us left the warehouse once Kaede put the cameras in her backpack.

"Alright, let's go to Miu's lab. I saw it in the courtyard..." Shuichi advised.

"Oh, you mean the large building in the garden at the bottom of the stairs... Hm... Up until we saw Sharla's lab, our research labs have just been normal classrooms..." Kaede muttered.

"Well... that seems alright, doesn't it?" I asked.

The three of us exited the main building and walked to the building Shuichi was refering to.

_*Knock, Knock*_

Right after Kaede knocked, the door violently swung open and Miu came out.

"You're fuckin' late! How dare you waste precious seconds of my time!" She shouted.

_Oh, looks like she's back to normal._ I thought.

"Well?! Don't keep my golden brain waiting! Gimme whatcha got!" The inventor exclaimed.

"O-OK, it's just these, but..." Kaede muttered as she took out the cameras and gave them to Miu.

"Kh! Disposable cameras?!" She yelled in confusion.

"Are disposable cameras too difficult to modify for you?" I asked.

"Huh?! Do you ask bird-watchers if they know how to gawk at dumbass birds?! 'Course I can do it! Piece of cake!"

"Ah, here's the security sensors then." I replied as me and Shuichi gave the inventor the sensors.

"So you want me to use these sensors to make the cameras take pictures automatically, right?" Miu asked.

"I was thinking... the camera could be triggered by the security sensor. As in, if the sensor detects movement, the receiver goes off and the shutter activates. That's how I'd like it to work, if possible." The detective explained.

I've had a feeling that we're gonna use that to take a picture of whoever moves the moving bookcase.

"I wrote down the details here..." Shuichi said as he showed Miu his plan.

"Two cameras with built-in security sensors that will take photos automatically... And a third camera that will trigger the sensor receiver as it automatically takes a photo. ...How soon do you need these?" The inventor said.

"Could you make them by... **tomorrow morning**?" The detective asked.

"Of course I can! You could tie me up and drip hot wax on me, and I'd still finish in time!"

With that bold declaration, Miu slammed the door hard in our faces.

"Did she just reveal some of her kinks to us..?" Kaede asked.

"Anyway... I think this will do it. We just have to wait for Miu to finish." Shuichi advised.

"...Kaede, what's wrong?" I asked when I saw her silent.

"Nothing. I was just thinking about how amazing you are for coming up with this plan, Shuichi." The pianist replied.

"...What?" The detective asked as he blushed.

"Honestly... when I first met you, I didn't think you would be that reliable... But look at me now, relying on you like you're Sherlock Holmes or something." Kaede said with a smile.

"Ah... yeah."

After that, the three of us went our separate ways and returned to our rooms. I kept giving Tenko and Ryoma the Ether rifle lessons we started yesterday. They seem to be getting the hang of it.

Once the Monokubs made the nighttime announcement, I couldn't help but think to myself before going to sleep.

_**The time limit expires tomorrow night...** I hope we can **catch the mastermind** in time._


	7. Chapter 1: HCT, OCT - Part 5

When I woke up on the day the time limit is set to expire, my first instinct was to go to Classroom A. I got up there and saw Kaede and Shuichi there.

"Sorry I'm late, guys!" I said.

"Ah, it's alright. We just got here too." Shuichi complied.

"How did it go? Did Miu finish the cameras?" Kaede asked.

"She must have been working all night. She was even too tired to make fun of me... Anyway, here's the result. Two cameras that will take a picture when the sensor detects movement... And this one will take a picture _and_ trigger this receiver. Of course, they're turned off right now, so they aren't taking any pictures..." The detective explained as he showed me and Kaede the cameras.

"Since they're disposable cameras, we'll have to manually wind the film, right?" The pianist asked.

"Yes, Miu thought of that. She told me that the cameras will wind automatically."

"So once they're set up, they'll take pictures every time the sensor is triggered?" I asked.

"She also modified them so that **they'll be completely silent**, to not attract attention."

"They're completely silent... This is perfect." I muttered.

"It needs to be... These are absolutely essential to our plan."

"And do these cameras have **flashes**?" Kaede asked.

"Yeah, they still have flashes on them, But I switched them off. They shouldn't be a problem. But, we need to make _sure_ they don't get turned on by accident and alert the mastermind." Shuichi advised.

"Yeah, we'll be careful. I'm impressed, though. Miu modified them to our specifications." The pianist admitted.

"Alright, I'll tell you a little bit about this classroom before we set up in the library."

"Huh? Tell us about this classroom?" I repeated.

"Yes, I think this is the perfect place to keep watch after we set up the cameras." Shuichi exclaimed.

"That's fine, but why this classroom?" Kaede asked.

"Because we can see anyone who goes down to the basement. With the door open a little..."

As he said that, Shuichi pointed at the open door and the three of us looked down to see the stairs to the basement.

"Look. You can see the staircase, right?" He asked.

"Oh yeah, you're right! We can keep a lookout for anyone who goes down to the basement!" Kaede exclaimed.

"There's one more reason I chose this specific classroom."

I looked around and saw a air vent in front of the room.

"Is this... **a vent**?" I asked.

"It's connected to the library in the basement. You'll recognize the smell immediately." Shuichi responded.

"The smell?" I repeated. I lean closer to the vent and immediately I exclaimed "Hey! It smells like musty old books! Does this lead to the library?"

"It's probably a vent to control the humidity in the library."

"But a vent in a classroom? That's an odd design choice for a school..." Kaede muttered.

_Then again, everything about this school is odd..._ I thought.

"This vent is the other reason I chose this specific classroom to keep watch. This vent is just big enough for someone to be able to fit, so we should watch this carefully too." Shuichi advised.

"I don't think I could fit through there... Well, maybe I could but it'd be tough. Well, I guess this is the perfect spot to keep a lookout." Kaede exclaimed.

"Anyway, it's time. We should set up the cameras now..." The detective said.

_It's time to set our plan into motion... There's no turning back now..._ I thought as we exited the classroom, went down the stairs and entered the library.

"So where did you want to place the cameras?" I asked.

"Let's aim the one linked to the receiver at the moving bookcase. If we place the security sensor on the bookcase itself, then when it opens... the receiver will let us know." Shuichi theorized.

"And if we place the camera to face the moving bookcase..." Kaede muttered.

"Yes, the camera should capture the exact moment the mastermind moves the bookcase."

"Then where are we putting the other two sensors?" I asked.

"Well, there are two entrances to the library. The front entrances near the stairs, and the rear entrance to the hallway... Let's aim one at each entrance. That way, we'll have pictures of everyone who enters the library." The detective advised.

"But how about over there?" Kaede asked as she pointed to the vent. "Didn't you say a person could fit through the vent that connects to the classroom? Wait, shouldn't we make sure a person could actually fir through it?"

"I think it'll be fine, since we'll be keeping watch in the classroom... But we should investigate it a little more, just in case." Shuichi exclaimed.

"You can use that ladder to get up there." I said as I pointed to the moving ladder.

Kaede nodded as she positioned the ladder below the vent and climbed up. Me and Shuichi looked up to see her at the vent.

"Whoa... Now that I'm up here, this is pretty high. It's kinda scary..." She admitted.

"Do you wanna switch?" Shuichi asked.

"Nah... I'm fine... By the way, can you see my, um... delicates?" The pianist wondered.

"Ah! Sorry!" The detective shouted as he blushed.

"Sorry, huh? So you did see them..." Kaede muttered as she blushed hard.

"Well, he can't unsee them now." I snarked.

"Urgh, there we go!" The pianist groaned as she reached for the grate on the vent. I heard a clank as she spoke, "Oh, the grate came off pretty easily."

"Did you break something, Kaede?" Shuichi asked.

"Um, no... I didn't break it..." The pianist replied.

Afterwards, she pushed the grate into the duct, lifted her body and looked inside.

"So how does it look, Kaede? Can someone fit in there?" I asked.

"Hmmm... it would be pretty difficult, but you might be able to crawl through. I can't really get to the vent with all these books in the way, though..." The pianist muttered.

"Well, we'll be able to see the entrance to the vent in the classroom... So that should be OK, right?" Shuichi replied.

"Just in case, **I'll stack more books around the vent so no one can get through**."

After she said that, Kaede began to arrange the books around the vent. After she finished stacking the books, she climbed down the ladder and stayed silent for a bit.

"Kaede? What's wrong?" I asked in concern.

The pianist stayed silent before she exclaimed "This will work... This will definitely work!"

"...Huh?" Shuichi muttered.

"I think this plan might actually protect everyone! Yeah, it definitely will! This plan is perfectly composed like Chopin's ballades! I actually really like complicated contraptions, like Rube Goldberg machines and stuff. So I'm positive this will work! This setup is perfect!" Kaede exclaimed.

"Y-You really think so..?" Shuichi asked.

"Of course! We'll definitely catch the mastermind, and then we'll all escape! So let's hurry and set up the cameras!"

"Yes, so, I think it would be a good idea to set up the cameras between books, so that-" Shuichi started to say but was cut off by Kaede.

"Oh, hold on. I had an idea while I was on top of the bookcase... **What if we place a camera up there?** I'm sure the mastermind wouldn't notice it."

"Ah, but with all the books stacked on top... I don't know if there's room for the camera." The detective muttered.

"Then I'll test it out while you and Sharla prepare the sensor on the bookcase. I'll organize the books on top of the bookcase and see if I can make room for a camera. That way, we won't waste any time, right?" The pianist exclaimed.

"Y-Yeah... that sounds like a good idea." Shuichi agreed.

"Alright! Then let's do it!" Kaede said.

A while later, the three of us managed to reorganize the books and set up the cameras and sensors. Once we were done, we left the library quickly and went into the hallway.

"Now we wait for the mastermind to show themselves..." Kaede muttered.

"There's still some time left... Do you want to go see anybody?" Shuichi asked.

"No, I'd rather focus on the plan. Besides, I'm sure everyone else is safe. Plus, once we get out of here, I'll have all the time in the world to see them." The pianist said with a soft smile.

"I can understand that. Then, let's go to the classroom." I said as we went upstairs and went into the classroom.

_This is it... There's no going back anymore..._ I thought to myself.

"...Let's keep the door open a little. So we can see anyone going to the basement." Shuichi advised.

"Yeah..." Kaede agreed.

"Ah... Kaede? About the... security sensor receiver... Could you hold on to it, please? I just feel like... you'd be better suited for that than me. Ah, there's power switch on it. Make sure you don't turn it off by accident." The detective muttered.

"No... you hold on to it, Shuichi. You're the one who came up with this plan... And... I trust you." The pianist responded.

Shuichi then told us about his first case as a detective. The victim deserved their death and he never forgot the look in the culprit's eyes. Therefore, he wears his hat so that wouldn't have to look at anyone in the eyes. Kaede gently reached out and held his hand.

"Kaede..?" Shuichi said her name in confusion.

"I wish there was a piano here. I would play you a song to help you cheer up! Hmm... a pretty song to play for you... Oh, **like 'Clair de Lune' by Debussy**! It's a **soothing song that calms your heart, like the moon's reflection on the water...**"

Shuichi stayed silent and Kaede kept speaking, "You noticed, huh? Yeah... I'm shaking, too. But... I'd be a mess if you weren't here. I wouldn't have been able to do anything... I've would've been so lost... I'm glad you're here with me, Shuichi. With you by my side, I feel like I can stand up to anything. You give me the courage I need to take on the mastermind. So, please... be more confident. I believe in you, so you should definitely believe in yourself!"

"...OK. I'll try. I don't if I can, but I'll try..." The detective obliged.

"Yup, _that's_ a promise." Kaede exclaimed.

After she let go of Shuichi's hand, I quickly changed the subject.

"I'm not being rude but, I think you would look cooler if **you didn't wear that hat**." I said.

"Wh-What are you talking about?" The detective asked.

"What? I'm serious here. Once we get out of here, I want you to show us what you look like without your hat, OK?"

He was silent as I kept speaking, "Come on, I just want to see you smile. **I made a promise to someone long gone that I would protect everyone.** That hasn't change a small bit no matter what happened to me. Even a single smile brightens up my day. **I will protect everyone from the mastermind.**"

"Sharla... your kindness truly helps us in times like this." Kaede admitted.

The three of us talked about our interests to kill time. Then suddenly, the moment happened. The monitor turned on and weird music started playing.

"Wh-What is this **weird music**? Is it coming from that monitor?" I asked.

"Maybe it's a warning that we need to start killing. **The time limit is almost up...**" Shuichi theorized.

"Th-They need to stop screwing with us! How much suffering do they want from us?!" Kaede yelled.

"Wait, Kaede..." The detective muttered, keeping silent for a bit before saying "I hear people talking... in the hallway..."

"Huh? People talking?" Kaede repeated.

Me and Kaede peaked through the gap in the classroom door leading to the hallway to see Kaito, Gonta, Maki, Tenko, Angie, Himiko, and Rantaro heading downstairs.

"What's a big group like that planning to do..?" Shuichi wondered.

"It's almost nighttime, right? If they're all heading to the basement right... Could the mastermind be with them, too? Kaito, Gonta, Maki, Tenko, Angie, Himiko, and Rantaro... One of them is the mastermind?" Kaede muttered.

"It is unusual... for such a big group to all go to the basement. They're not planning on going to the library, are they? That would be bad... They'll scare off the mastermind from using the bookcase and ruin the plan."

"What?" Me and Kaede said in shock.

"I'm going to check out the basement!"

"I'll come with you!" Kaede yelled.

"No! You and Sharla stay and keep watch, Kaede!"

With that, Shuichi dashed out of the classroom and ran downstairs.

Kaede clearly couldn't stay still, so she grabbed the broom from the corner of the classroom and started cleaning for seemingly no reason at all.

"Shuichi... Please come back already..." The pianist pleaded.

She kept distracting herself with cleaning until Shuichi came back.

"...Kaede? Why are you sweeping..?" He asked.

"Huh? O-Oh, no reason... Anyway, what about the people down in the basement?" Kaede exclaimed.

"Everything is OK. They all went to the Game Room." The detective responded.

_The Game Room? Why there?_ I thought.

"...There's only one hour until the time limit." Shuichi said, noticing the warning on the monitor.

"Yeah, it's almost time..." Kaede muttered.

"Are you sure the mastermind will go to the library, Shuichi?" I asked.

"I'm sure that the mastermind will make their move soon. If Monokuma is going to show up when time runs out, the mastermind will go to the library-" The detective started to say but was cut off.

What cut him off happened so suddenly.

My heart nearly leapt out of my chest as the receiver in Shuichi's hand suddenly went off.

"Sh-Shuichi, **the receiver**!" Kaede yelled.

"**Someone moved the bookcase!** Hurry, guys!" The detective shouted as he ran out of the classroom.

"Wait for us! Come on, Kaede! **The mastermind is on the move!**" I yelled.

"O-OK!" Kaede obliged as we ran out of the classroom and ran to the library.

Kaito and Tenko joined us as we entered the library and saw the moving bookcase close on it's own. Looks like we just missed them!

"Where is... the mastermind..?" Shuichi muttered.

We quickly walked towards the moving bookcase. And then, not too far from the moving bookcase... we saw...

Rantaro Amami, who had yet to reveal his Ultimate talent to us... ...laid dead on the ground.


	8. Chapter 1: HCT, OCT - Part 6

**(A/N: After this part, I'll be heading straight to the class trial after the closing argument for Chapter 1. Part 7 takes place after that. So the class trial is the same as in V3. Just a heads up on that regard.)**

**...**

**Begin Deadly Life**

I leaned close to Rantaro's body and put my ear to his chest. I didn't hear anything and I turned to confirm what happened as I said, "I don't hear a pulse anymore. **He's... dead.**"

"No..." Kaede muttered.

Tenko's scream and Monokuma's announcement that a body has been discovered was more than enough to let everyone else know that the killing game truly has begun.

"Kaede, Shuichi, can you two gather **alibis for what everyone did before we found Rantaro's body?**" I asked.

"O-OK." Shuichi agreed.

"You can count on us! Whoever did this is gonna pay!" Kaede exclaimed.

"I'll stay here to take an **autopsy on Rantaro's body**. The rest of you try to find anything that could lead to the culprit." I told the others.

Once everyone went off on their investigation, I looked at the Monokuma File I just got and read through it. Rantaro was killed by blunt force trauma to the head. I walked up to his body and leaned close. It was clear that he was hit in the back of the head and died instantly.

I turned to see the murder weapon, a shot put ball. Shuichi was behind me, having finished gathering alibis.

_Why did Rantaro come to the library..? ...And why was he killed with a shot put ball._ I thought.

"Hey, Shuichi. Do you know why the culprit used a shot put ball? There were more conventional weapons like the knives in the dining hall." I asked.

"The only way for someone to use a shot put ball unless they had something to contain it in..." The detective replied before his eyes widened.

"**The only place to get a shot put ball was the warehouse.** When could they've taken it? **How did they contain it?**"

As I spoke, that person's image became clearer in my mind. And then suddenly, flashbacks appeared in my mind.

_**...**_

_**"...Kaede? What are you doing?"**_

_**"Oh, Shuichi. Done already?"**_

_**...**_

_**"Hmmm... it would be pretty difficult, but you might be able to crawl through. I can't really get to the vent with all these books in the way, though..."**_

_**"Well, we'll be able to see the entrance to the vent in the classroom... So that should be OK, right?"**_

_**"Just in case, I'll stack more books around the vent so no one can get through."**_

_**...**_

_The books..._ I thought to myself as me and Shuichi looked to the vent that lead to the classroom where we waited for the mastermind to their move.

The detective hastily took the ladder and climbed up to the top of the bookcase. What he saw must have made him realize who the most likely culprit was. Kaede Akamatsu, the Ultimate Pianist.

With that revelation, he could only mutter out a single sentence.

"What have you done..?"

"Excuse me, Shuichi? Sharla?"

The two of us turned to see Kirumi behind us.

"Ah, Kirumi." Shuichi finally addressed the maid.

"Please forgive me." Kirumi began. "You two seemed to be particularly fixated on something atop those bookcases. Did you perhaps find any new evidence that would help in this investigation?"

Shuichi was clearly at a lost for words. Was it wrong to trust Kaede? Was this her true character? Was she one of the traitors? I knew that there was more to this murder than from what we already saw.

"Why?" The detective muttered. "Why did she do this?"

"Shuichi?" Kirumi called out his name in confusion.

He stayed silent again. Can we expose the truth? Or lie to protect Kaede? And then, I thought of a third option.

We needed to test the murder scenario for ourselves.

"...We need the room." I said as Shuichi climbed down the ladder.

"I'm sorry?" Kirumi responded.

"We need the room." I repeated a little louder.

"As if we leave you and Poo-ichi all alone at the crime scene, Shyla!"

The three of us turned to see the source of that outburst was from Miu. She walked towards us and yelled "You expect us to skedaddle outta here while you go tampering with all the evidence?!"

"We... that's not..." Shuichi tried to get his words out but couldn't.

"If they wanted to destroy any evidence they would've tried to do so earlier."

We turned to see Ryoma approach us.

"A majority of us already investigated this scene as much as we could." The former tennis pro continued. "So if they were to try and tamper with any evidence now, it would only contradict what the rest of us had found."

"O-Oh, is that so? O-Of course that was obvious to a genius like me, so I'm glad you explained it to the other slowpokes here." Miu stammered as she blushed in embarrassment.

"That would leave only me." Kirumi said as she glared at the inventor. "Are you perhaps insulting my intelligence?"

Miu let out a mild whimper. "Hey would you look at the time! I better get back to my lab to **develop the photos my moan took!**"

**"You mean 'drone'."** Kirumi corrected her as she sighed.

The maid wouldn't get a response as the inventor left the library in a rush.

Ryoma shook his head as he turned back to address us. "In any case, if it's integral to solving this mystery, I won't hinder you."

The former tennis pro gave a short nod to me and Shuichi and left the library as well, leaving only me, him, and Kirumi remaining.

"It's not that I don't trust you, Sharla." The maid said. "However, I was the one who **suggested that we not investigate by ourselves.**"

"We understand, Kirumi." Shuichi replied.

The maid put a hand to her chin and looked away, appearing deep in thought. She looked back at us and asked "Would it really be a hinderance to you if I, at least, remained in the premises?"

I thought about it for a moment before speaking, "That sounds fine to me. Besides, I wouldn't want to be a liar for willingly letting someone investigate this on their own."

"And what's wrong with being a liar?"

The three of us turned to see Kokichi as he continued, "The correct answer is 'everything'. After all, liars are just the worst!"

"Kokichi? What are you doing here?" Shuichi asked.

"Well, I was walking around, minding my own business, when I saw Miu rush out of this room all flustered. So, I thought 'Wow! There must be some shindig going on in here to make that slutty pig flee with her tail between her sweaty legs'... Y'know, it's not as fun making fun of her when she's not here."

The rest of us stayed silent from this remark until Kirumi asked "Kokichi, you've been on your own for the majority of this investigation, correct?"

"Yeah, I suppose." The purple-haired boy admitted as he lowered his head. "Actually, it made me quite sad. It was like I was the last person to get picked for dodgeball or something. Except... I never got picked in the end... UWAAAAAAAAAHHH-!" He started to cry before Kirumi cut him off.

"In that case, I think it would be best if you helped out Shuichi and Sharla for the rest of the investigation."

"W-What?" Shuichi was taken aback by the maid's suggestion.

I was equally taken aback. "Really?" I asked.

"Pardon my wording, but with this we are able to kill two birds with one stone. Now you two will be able to keep an eye on Kokichi, and Kokichi can keep an eye on you two." Kirumi said with a smile.

"Oh? Does that mean I get to **play assistant to the Ultimate Detective and the Ultimate Sniper**?" Kokichi wondered as he tilted his head.

"If that's what you'd like to call it." The green-eyed woman responded.

"W-Wait! What will you do in the meantime, Kirumi?" Shuichi asked.

"As it just so happens, your little proposal caused two of our classmates to go off on their own." The maid pointed out.

"Oh... yeah, well..." I muttered.

"So I shall fulfill your request and let you do as you will, provided that Kokichi remains with you. As for me, I will check up on the others to ensure that they aren't planning any suspicious activity on their end."

"OK, got it." I obliged as I nodded.

"Then I shall make my leave. If you three will excuse me."

After that, Kirumi left the library and the door closing was an signified that we were now free to perform our experiment, along with the 'assistant'.

"I'm not really sure what's going on, but it sounds like you're planning something fun, right Shuichi?" Kokichi asked.

"Sort of... I think me and Sharla may have found the method of murder the culprit used to kill Rantaro." The detective replied.

"Oooh!" Kokichi's eyes suddenly had stars on them, something I swore I've seen before. "That's our 'Ultimate Detective' for ya, I knew you'd be one step ahead of the killer. Honestly, I don't know why they went for Rantaro when killing _you_ would've been a greater benefit for them."

Shuichi kept silent at Kokichi's inquiry while also trying to determine whenever or not what he said was a vague threat. Instead of responding, I handed him the shot put.

"Go to the classroom just upstairs from this basement. I want you to roll the shot put into the vent that's in there." I told him as he took the shot put from my hand.

"Do I really have to go all the way up to Classroom A just to roll a ball?" The purple-haired boy whined.

"Huh?" Shuichi muttered

"Well, if you wanted me to roll the ball into the vent of Classroom A, then that means the vent would lead to the one that's here in the library. And that means the ball exited that vent, rolled across from atop the bookcases and WAM! Killed Rantaro." Kokichi theorized.

I could've sworn this wasn't the first time Kokichi showed off his intellect. Shaking the feeling off, I said "Yep, that's right."

"I don't like thaaaaat..." He whined once again.

"...Huh?"

"Can't we just use the ladder and roll the ball from here?" Kokichi asked before saying "That way, I could also see it for myself!"

Shuichi shook his head in disbelief as he spoke, "Wait. Y-You're only upset because you yourself won't get to see the results of this experiment?" He asked.

"I'm sorry, but I thought I was sticking with you because Kirumi didn't want you to be all alone?" The supreme leader said with a sly smile, his attitude suddenly changing to that of a scheming villain.

"That's... true." was all Shuichi could mutter out.

Me and Kokichi ended up in a stare-off, each of us trying to figure out how to spin this situation in our favor. Out of everyone I could work with, the purple-haired boy I was somehow familiar with was the worst option.

"Look, I know this is against our deal with Kirumi-" I started to say but was cut off by Kokichi.

"I won't tell if you won't." He suddenly blurted out.

"W-What?" Shuichi muttered, looking at the supreme leader in confusion.

"I'll go up to that classroom like you asked. I wouldn't want to stall the deductions of the Ultimate Detective or end up under the aim of the Ultimate Sniper, now would I?"

"What's in it for you?"

Now it was Kokichi's turn to have a look of confusion as Shuichi continued, "Cooperating with me so easily while also willingly leaving me and Sharla alone in this crime scene... what do you want in return?"

He thought about it for a moment before saying "Hmm, I'll get back to you on that."

After that, he turned away from us and started exiting the library.

"W-Wai-" Shuichi tried to shout but the supreme leader cut him off.

"Can't! Who knows how long we have left until the class trial?!"

And with a slam of the door, me and Shuichi were left all alone in the library.

"I'm guessing that was a 'yes' for rolling the shot put from the classroom." I thought outloud.

"I-I hope that's true..." The detective muttered.

The two of us waited with baited breath for Kokichi to roll the shot put from the vent. A few minutes have passed, though it felt like hours.

"What in the world is Kokichi doing?" Shuichi asked.

"You might know what he could be up to." I snarked.

"Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to have Kokichi walking around with the murder weapon..." The detective muttered.

Suddenly, the library door creaked open and the two of us turned to see who it was and we were surprised is wasn't anyone we've previously spoke to. Rather, it was Keebo.

"Keebo? What are you doing here?" I asked.

"My apologies. It wasn't my intent to return to the crime scene, but Kokichi asked me to come assist you... with whatever it is you're doing in here." The robot responded.

"Kokichi asked you to come down here?" Shuichi wondered.

"Indeed. He also told me to, um..." Keebo paused for a bit before continuing, "...Well, he asked me to give this back to you..."

He then held out his hand to reveal that he was holding the bloody shot put that I gave Kokichi earlier.

"Why do you have that?" I questioned.

"Kokichi gave it to me. He said for me to tell you that he didn't need it anymore."

"H-He what?!"

Keebo nearly flinched back at Shuichi's unexpected outburst.

"Y-Yes, I found it odd myself and quite frankly, a little redundant."

"Huh?"

"Well, he came into the classroom holding about **4 or 5 shot puts**. I was almost certain he would end up collapsing from the weight..."

"The classroom?" Shuichi repeated as he seemed to realize something.

"Why did Kokichi have the murder weapon with him? What exactly are you three planning?" Keebo asked.

Before me or Shuichi could respond, the echoing sound of moving metal reverberated throughtout the library. Suddenly, a shot put came out of the library's air vent and rolled through the row of bookcases. The three of us watched as the metal ball made it's way across the room and towards the location of Rantaro's body. Me and Shuichi braced ourselves for the cold, dark truth that would come to light.

Except... that wouldn't be the case.

The shot put ball fell from the bookcase, but it landed not towards Rantaro's body; nowhere near the initial illustrated point of impact, in fact. The ball landed on the floor a few feet from the victim's position. Keebo put a finger to his metal chin in curiousity. Shuichi had a look of confusion, surprise, and relief.

_It didn't hit Rantaro. It didn't fall where it was supposed to._ I thought.

Seeing the detective looking at me, I decided make the point from what we saw clear.

**"Kaede didn't kill him."** I firmly said.

We watched as the metal ball rolled across the floor in the library. The room was silent as it came to a halt at my feet. I picked up the round object and let Shuichi take a good look at it.

**"So it couldn't have been that..."**

The two of us turned to face Keebo as he continued, "I'm impressed, though. I didn't suspect that could be a potential way for the killer to murder Rantaro."

"Indeed, I noticed something suspicious as I was investigating the top of the bookcases and I wanted to test out that theory." Shuichi admitted.

"Your detective skills are truly unmatched, Shuichi." I said as I chuckled.

The detective returned the chuckle as he looked at the metal ball in my hand once again. As he gazed at it, he seem to grow curious about something.

"You said that Kokichi had multiple shot puts with him when he entered the classroom, right Keebo?" He asked.

"That is correct. I didn't get a good enough look to determine specifics, but I would say it was around 4 or 5." The robot replied.

After a brief moment of thinking to himself, Shuichi climbed up the ladder and tried to reach the vent as close as he could. I dropped the metal ball back onto the floor as he shouted into the vent.

"Kokichi! Can you hear me?"

The sound of the purple-haired boy's voice suddenly escaped from the metal opening.

"Loud and clear, boss!" The supreme leader yelled.

"I need you to roll another shot put into the vent!"

"Another one?" Me and Keebo repeated.

Shuichi turned to face us as he spoke, "We can't be sure until we test this out multiple times. I won't be satisfied until I know that the shot put ball missing wasn't just some fluke!"

"Alrighty! Here comes another one!" We heard Kokichi say.

Like before, a loud reverberating sound reached the library as another shot put ball rolled down the vent. Shuichi watched the metal ball from the ladder intently to see the exact movements of the metal object. It rolled through the pathway of books that Kaede organized and once again it fell from the bookcase to the exact same location of the previous ball.

_He must not be convinced yet._ I thought as Shuichi turned to the vent.

"Again!" He shouted.

Suddenly, the echoing sound of a rolling shot put ball amplified. I nearly flinched as I noticed that Kokichi seemed to roll three balls into the vent this time. I watched all three shot put balls roll through the path and all three fell to the same destination as the previous two. Shuichi slowly climbed down the ladder and stopped near ground level.

"Shuichi?" I called out his name as he lowered his head.

However, despite his melancholic posture, he was actually smiling.

"Thank goodness." The detective whispered to himself. "Thank goodness..."

Kokichi ran back into the library and him and Keebo got into an argument. I didn't listen to them. Then the realization hit me hard like Xord's hammer. There was another culprit, Rantaro's true killer and they were framing Kaede for murder.

After a while, Kaede rejoined me and Shuichi. The three of us went to the warehouse for the photos from the cameras. Shortly afterwards, Monokuma announced the end of the investigation and for everyone to meet in the courtyard.

As Kaede was about to open the red to the Shrine of Judgement, she stopped when me and her noticed Shuichi looking back at something.

"Shuichi? Is something wrong?" The pianist asked.

He stayed silent for a while before finally speaking, "Sorry, Kaede, but do you and Sharla mind going on ahead? There's something... I need to do.

"Oh, ah...of course," Kaede concurred. "Just don't keep us waiting too long, OK?"

Shuichi made a small nod in agreement as he walked away from us. The two of us entered the Shrine of Judgement as the other students talked among themselves.

"So this is the Shrine of Judgement..." Kaito muttered.

"Careful, everyone! If bad things happen, get behind Gonta!" Gonta yelled.

"Then gimme a piggy-back ride! C'mon carry me." Angie pleaded.

"Omigod, you are so fucking annoying! So are we doin' the class trial here or what!?" Miu wondered.

"No, Monokuma made it sound like we'd be guided somewhere from here." Ryoma responded.

Kirumi looked around and said "But Monokuma is nowhere to be seen. What's going on?"

Suddenly, the Shrine of Judgement started to rumble.

"Wah!" Kaede yelled in reaction. "Wh-What?!"

All of us stared in awe as the Monokuma statue in the shrine started to move and lower itself from the fountain it was originally placed upon. In it's place, from behind the fountain's waterfall, what seemed to be an elevator appeared before us.

"Is this... **an elevator**?" I asked, still reeling on what we just witnessed.

"Does he want us to board it?" Keebo followed up on my inquiry.

"I don't wanna... I don't do scary rides." Himiko said.

"I... don't want to get on either." Tsumugi agreed.

"Stay behind, then. Though I'm sure that'll just be worse for you in the end." Maki countered.

"Yeah, that's true... I know..." The blue-haired girl reluctantly obliged.

"However, if everyone wishes to run away, I will cooperate as well." Kirumi offered.

"That's probably not a good idea. As long as that **End Wall** exsits, escape's not an option." Ryoma warned.

Despite this bleak outlook, Kaede stood her ground. "It'll be fine...Let's all work together. Remember our promise? We're gonna escape this place and remain good friends afterward…So let's do it! I'm sure we'll be alright! Because...we make such an incredible team."

"Heh, I wouldn't be able to call myself a man if I was still scared after hearing a girl say that." Kaito said in response, clearly affected by Kaede's little speech. "Bring it! I'll show them how I, Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars, live!"

"Don't you mean 'die'?" Kokichi added in.

"Don't say something all ominous like that!" Kaito shouted at the supreme leader.

"Nggaah! We've come so far already! We just gotta do it...SO LET'S DO IT!" Tenko yelled.

As the other students began to walk towards the elevator, I stopped them by shouting "Hold on a second! Shuichi isn't here yet!"

"Shuichi? Wasn't he with you and Kaede?" Maki questioned.

"Well yeah, but he said he had something to take care of before he joined us." Kaede answered.

Miu started to laugh. "I guess Poo-ichi knew his life was forfeit, so he decided to have one last 'time to himself', if you know what I mean!"

"Unfortunately, we do know what you mean." Kirumi retorted.

The inventor suddenly became frustrated. "Actually that might've been a good idea...Dammit, why didn't I think of that too?"

"Th-That's what you're concerned about?" Tsumugi asked."

"Hmm... Maybe the burden of the situation was too much to bear and he decided to abandon us…" Kiyo spoke softly.

"Shuichi would never do that!" I yelled.

"But wait!" Gonta interrupted. "If we no have Ultimate Detective to help us, how are we supposed to solve crime?"

"I thought the class trials were supposed to be mandatory participation…" Himiko said. "If Shuichi can ditch them, then maybe I should just stay behind as well."

"No, Himiko!" Tenko shouted. "We'll need your magic in the class trial! Don't be like that degenerate male and abandon us in our time of need."

"I'm told you guys, Shuichi isn't like that!" I exclaimed once again.

"Sharla's right!" Kaito said. "I'm sure Shuichi's just preparing himself for the battle that's about to begin!"

"It's a class trial. Not some duel to the death." Maki corrected.

"Isn't it, though!" Kaito countered. "To an Ultimate Detective, a trial's like a duel, and regardless, his life is on the line as much as the rest of us, so it is 'to the death'!"

"Don't be an idiot..." Maki muttered.

The sound of the door opening silenced the concerned conversation of the others as we saw the detective walk into the shrine.

"If it isn't Mr. Tardy Pants." Kokichi decided to address the detective first. "You should've heard the mean things everyone said about you while you weren't here! Why, Kaede even called you a-huh?"

His lie was cut short as he noticed something different about Shuichi. In fact, the rest of us let out similar noises of curiousity as we noticed the detective's change in appearence.

Kaede finally said what was on everyone's minds, including mine. "Shuichi... **your hat..!**"

As the pianist claimed, Shuichi was no longer wearing his signature hat, revealing his short hair and a curious slim forelock of it sticking out from the top of his head, similar to Kaede's.

The now hatless detective didn't look at the other students as he slowly walked pass them, only looking straight ahead. He didn't say a thing as he made his way towards the elevator.

Outside his lack of headwear, most of us saw a change in demeanor from Shuichi as well. What we were seeing was not the reluctant, stuttering boy that we first met. In fact, he was a completely different person. He stood straight, walked with confidence, and had a fire in his eyes that could only be described as 'glowing'.

"See, what'd I tell ya? You all could take a lesson from Shuichi in confidence!" Kaito exclaimed.

"Hmph... That look in his eyes kinda reminds me of how I used to be back in the day..." Ryoma muttered.

"Oh my~! Shuichi's looking pretty cool right now! And more handsome without his hat!" Angie cheered.

"I-I'll admit, even for a degenerate male, he looks pretty cool." Tenko admitted.

"For the Ultimate Detective to look like this before a class trial... If I were the blackened right now, I'd be sweating bullets~!" Kokichi said mischievously.

"Sh-Shuichi?" Kaede called out his name, taken aback by the detective's current state.

The 'no-longer-capped' detective finally made his way to the elevator, but not before addressing me and Keebo, "Whatever happens in there, follow my lead."

"All right." I said as I nodded.

"Affirmative." Keebo responded.

With mine and the robotic student's assurance, Shuichi was the first to step in the elevator.

"Are you guys coming?" He asked the other students.

Miu moaned in pleasure, "Give me a few more seconds of you acting like that, then I'll be close!"

Regardless of the inventor's comment, the rest of us complied with Shuichi and entered the elevator ourselves. Kaede was the last to enter it as it's doors finally shut and moved down towards it's next location: the class trial.

I stood beside Shuichi and Kaede, ignoring the random remarks of our current situation from the other students.

"Um, Shuichi... Sharla... About that talk from before…" Kaede started to whisper to me and the detective.

"Hmm?" Shuichi let out a sound of confusion.

"I think everyone is afraid of learning the truth. But the people who are willing to find the truth are the ones who can decide their fate. If you never know the lies from the truth, then you can't choose a path. You won't even know you're on a path. So...fight for the truth…Even if it is frightening. I know you can do this. If you're scared, borrow the strength of others, who will be there to help you. Think of everyone you're helping, and let that be your strength. I used to be like you-" The pianist continued before Shuichi cut her off.

"Kaede..."

"Yes?

"Do you... trust me and Sharla?"

The pianist looked at me and him before answering, "Of course I do."

Shuichi closed his eyes and smiled before speaking, "Then I don't have anything to worry about."

"What do you mean?" Kaede asked.

"Kaede... can I ask something of you?" The detective requested.

"What is it, Shuichi?"

"You said the truth can be frightening." He went on. "And me and Sharla will do our best to find it... no matter how painful it may be... but... I also ask that you face it with us."

"Face it with you?" Kaede repeated.

"I'm asking you to find your strength, as well." Shuichi clarified. "Cause I know you have that strength within you...to bring everyone together...to lead us out of these dire times. Promise me, Kaede, no matter what happens, you won't run away from the truth and face it head on...with me...with all of us."

"It's like I said before, you must **fight for your own future**. No one else can decide what happens to you, Kaede." I said.

"Shuichi... Sharla..." The pianist muttered, surprised by our inspiring words. "I... I do promise... I won't turn my back on the truth."

"That's the spirit!" I exclaimed as I smiled.

Shuichi sighed in relief, "I'm glad... Thank you, Kaede."

The elevator finally came to a halt. The doors slowly opened to reveal what awaited us on the other side: a large room with seventeen podiums surrounding each other. It was an authentic replica of a courtroom, complete with a high standing judge's chair, where Monokuma and the Monokubs placed themselves.

The twisted bear instructed us to stand behind our respective podiums.

As I walked towards my podium between Kaito and Kirumi, an image of Rantaro's body flashed in my mind.

_Rantaro... He died without knowing who killed him._ I thought to myself.

An image of Kaede then flashed in my mind.

_And Kaede... you planned something drastic, but you weren't the one who did it. For Rantaro's sake... for your sake..._

Suddenly, images of everyone in the Ultimate Academy flashed in my mind.

_...Me and Shuichi need to find the true killer, here and now. Mastermind or not, **they're framing you for his murder**. Whoever did this must pay for what they done... if they succeed, it will cause your unfair death. I have to solve this case with Shuichi... so we can move onwards. So we can... end this killing game. I will fight... just like in the past... I will fight for my life in this trial of truth and lies!_


	9. Chapter 1: HCT, OCT - Part 7

"That's the truth behind your lies... **Kaede Akamatsu, the Ultimate Pianist!**" Shuichi yelled from his podium.

For all of us, it had been a long and arduous trial. Theories were thrown around with no shortage of accusations as well, until finally, it resulted in the reveal of a dark truth. One of the pictures from the cameras revealed that Rantaro noticing a particular camera which had it's flash on. There was one person who could've set up the flash, and the moment Shuichi revealed their identity, the horrible truth became clear: Kaede had set up a trap to kill the mastermind and Rantaro was it's unfortunate victim. I'd stayed silent this entire time, waiting for Shuichi to give the cue to make my argument.

"And that concludes the events of Kaede's trap." The detective finished his closing argument.

"N-No... Kaede... did it?" Gonta struggled to say.

"Damn it!" Kaito yelled in frustration.

"It is a truth I do not wish to accept, but since Shuichi has brought everything to light... We can at least try to trust the Kaede we've come to know up to this point." Kirumi said.

"The Kaede we've come to know..?" Tenko repeated.

"Even if she did commit a crime, what Kaede has said to us is not a lie. She wanted to protect us, and I firmly believe that to be the truth." The maid explained.

"If that was a lie too, it'd be the last straw for me. I'd have nothing left to believe in." Ryoma wistfully said.

"You guys are so nice..." Kaede muttered, tears streaming from her eyes. "Even though I betrayed you all..."

_Kaede... after everything you've been accused of... everyone seems to still believe in you. I'm glad... I'm actually really glad..._ I thought to myself.

I saw Shuichi look at me with a smile and I found my resolve.

"Is everyone satisfied?" I asked the other students. "Kaede did what she did... to save all of us... are we all in agreement to that?"

Ryoma tipped his beanie down, covering his eyes as he spoke. "You'll hear no arguments from me."

"It's painful to think about. But, I can understand where she was coming from..." Tsumugi admitted.

"Atua says Kaede bears no sins upon her shoulders. She will be gladly be accepted into heaven!" Angie exclaimed.

Gonta tried his best to hold back his tears. "Kaede tried to save Gonta... but Gonta want to save Kaede as well..."

Me and Keebo didn't say anything as the two of us stared intently at Shuichi.

"Grrah, this is BULLSHIT!" Kaito shouted suddenly.

"Kaito?!" Kaede called out his name, surprised by the astronaut's outburst.

"Kaede, you stayed behind to try and help us... Like hell I'm gonna stand here and do nothing!" He went on.

"And what, pray tell, are you planning to do?" Kiyo asked.

"I'm gonna stand my fucking ground, that's what!" The astronaut loudly declared. "C'mon guys, Kaede's gonna get executed at this rate! We're all here so let's fight Monokuma together!"

"Together?!" Tsumugi repeated.

"Nyeh... me too?" Himiko hesitantly said as she started to sweat.

"Don't group me into your little suicide circle!" Miu yelled.

"Puhuhuhuhu!"

A familiar laughter echoed throughout the trial room as all of us looked at Monokuma.

"You'd really risk all your lives just to save one?" The twisted bear asked.

"You're damn right we would!" Kaito yelled at the bear.

"Like I said, don't run train on me!" Miu shouted.

"Gonta will fight if he must!" As he said this, the entomologist closed his fists with confidence. "After all, Kaede tried to save Kaede, but Gonta want to save Kaede as well!"

"Um, Gonta, you already said that." Tsumugi pointed out.

"I'll use my Neo-Aikido on machines if I have to!" Tenko exclaimed as she took a fighting stance.

"Everyone stop!" Kaede shouted.

Suddenly, the tense atmosphere of the room slowly drained as all of us looked at the pianist. Her face was ridden with guilt and stained with tears. It became clear to me and the others what the girl's true feelings were. She's had enough. Kaede only wanted this trial to end.

"Please... let's just end this..." The pianist pleaded sadly.

Most of us had equally sad expression on our faces as we resigned ourselves to follow Kaede's wishes. All it took was for the silence to continue and Monokuma would begin the voting process.

I turned to see Kaito, who appeared between a rock and a hard place as he spoke. "Dammit, I shouldn't be voting for you, Kaede."

**"You shouldn't be voting at all."** I firmly said.

The others looked at me in surprise. Mostly because of the tone I said those words in, that of clarity, assurance, and as if it was a command.

"What do you mean, Sharla?" Maki asked in her usual serious tone.

"We shouldn't vote yet." I muttered.

"Or to be more precise, we can't." Shuichi followed up.

"We can't?" Gonta repeated.

"Ummmmmm..." An elongated hum broke out of Kokichi's mouth. "I'm pretty sure we can if we wanted to. I mean, it's actually really easy. It's as easy as going 'HEY MONOKUMA, I THINK WE'RE READY TO START THE VO-'"

"SHUT UP!" Kaito yelled at the supreme leader before turning to me. "Sharla, what do you and Shuichi mean we can't vote yet?"

I closed my eyes as I responded, **"Because this trial is far from over."**

"Whhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaat?"

To everyone's minor surprise, the outburst came from Monokuma.

"The trial is far from over?" The twisted bear repeated my words. "If that's the case, then it would make this the longest class trial to date!"

"Who held the previous record for that?" Monotaro asked.

"Ugh, ya shoulda seen the guy. A real slowpoke, that one." Monosuke answered as he adjusted his glasses.

"He was like... a snail in molasses." Monophanie muttered.

Monotaro nodded in agreement. "Oh yeah... I guess now he's one with... wait, why am I getting a sense of deja-vu?!"

"Didn't I tell you weirdos to shut it?!" Kaito shouted, starting to become more and more frustrated. "Sharla! Shuichi! What do you two me-"

"Ugh, how long are we gonna play this game?" Kokichi whined.

"What was that?!" Kaito yelled as he turned to the supreme leader.

"I mean, how long are we gonna play this game of 'Sharla, Shuichi, what do you mean 'insert last thing Shuichi or Sharla said here'?" The purple-haired boy asked as he gave a sly smile to me and the detective. "It's pretty obvious our Ultimate Detective and Ultimate Sniper have something they want to say…If that's so, then they should just come right out and say it."

This was it, the moment of truth. It was a tough trial to deal with up to this point, but me and Shuichi knew it was going to get much more difficult from here on out. Either way, the two of us braced ourselves, for the next words to come out of our mouths would change the direction of this trial completely.

**"Kaede is not the culprit."** Me and the detective said in unison.

A long silence filled the room, as if the others needed time to fully process the five words that me and the now-hatless boy just uttered.

"H... Huhhhhh?!" Tsumugi was the first one to react.

The other students followed.

"Oh, so I guess it wasn't Kaede." Angie said in a happy, oblivious manner. "OK, time to continue the trial, everyone!"

"D-Don't just accept it so easily!" The cosplayer told the artist.

"W-What Shuichi and Sharla mean Kaede not the culprit?!" Gonta asked.

"Um, Gontaaaa, I thought I just said we weren't playing that game anymorrrrrre." Kokichi said, clearly not fazed by mine and Shuichi's words.

"Oh, Gonta sorry." The entomologist apologized.

"Forget all about that! We have more pressing matters right now!" Kaito suddenly shouted.

"Kehehehe, clearly we do." Kiyo laughed softly. "What exactly are you playing at, Shuichi?"

"Yeah!" Miu agreed. "You just spent the last few fucking minutes proving how she was the one who did it!"

"All I did was prove a possible method of murder. But that doesn't mean Kaede killed-" Shuichi started to explain but was cut off.

"Shuichi!" Kaede yelled out his name.

"Huh..?!" The detective reacted in surprise to her outburst.

The pianist suddenly gave him a warm smile. "You've done well up to this point. I didn't expect any less...but you still have a long way to go. You need to be more assertive. If you did that more often, you'd be a pretty cool guy."

It was clear to me what Kaede was doing. She had resigned to her fate. No matter what evidence Shuichi presented to try and convince her otherwise, it doesn't change the fact that she truly believed she murdered Rantaro. Regardless, the detective wasn't going to give up.

He looked at Kaede straight in the eyes as he spoke. "You are not the culprit, Kaede."

I watched as the pianist's warm smile turn into a frown. Not of anger, but a frown of confusion and desperation.

"Don't do this..." She muttered to Shuichi.

"Kaede..." The detective said. "You have to believe me. The trap you laid out-"

"Was how I murdered Rantaro!" Kaede finished. "Please, Shuichi, don't do this! You promised me you and Sharla would accept the truth no matter how frightening it was!"

Shuichi was beginning to stutter. "I... I know, but what me and Sharla are saying is the tru-"

"Shuichi, that's enough!"

I looked at the source of the voice and was surprised that it came from Tsumugi just as much as Shuichi was when he looked at her.

The cosplayer smiled wistfully as she continued. "I know how you feel, Shuichi...I really do. Up to this point, I had grown close with Kaede. The two of us shared some pretty good memories. I don't want her to die...in fact, had you not tried to convince us she wasn't the culprit a moment ago, I probably would've spoken out as well...and try to come up with an excuse why she couldn't have done it."

"Tsumugi..." Kaede muttered, touched by the cosplayer's words.

"But that's not what she wants!" The blue-haired girl exclaimed, now with tears streaming from her eyes. "She did what she did for all of us, and the least we can do is not have her suffer anymore! Let's end this trial... for her sake... OK, Shuichi?"

"W-Wait..." Shuichi muttered as he noticed things were starting to become out of his control. "We can't..."

"Stop stalling and let us vote already!" Miu shouted. "Y'think we're gonna just keep continuing the trial all because you have a crush on Princess Piano?!"

"The two have been somewhat close ever since we woke up in this academy." Kiyo pointed out. "That would explain why he would suddenly go back on his previous deductions and try to claim Kaede's innocence."

"Claim... her innocence?" Tenko repeated, getting a completely different context on what the anthropologist said. "Is that what you've been after this whole time, you degenerate?!"

"N-No!" Shuichi denied. "Everyone, if you just listen for one-"

"I will not allow you to speak any further!" The aikido master yelled as she took a fighting stance. "Not if your words will cause Kaede anymore suffering."

"Kid..." Ryoma spoke next. "It's bad form to stop a lady from what she wants to do. I don't like as much as you do, but we have to accept this truth."

"Nyeh..." Himiko whined. "This is starting to become a pain... for me and Kaede. We should probably vote now."

"I couldn't agree more, Himiko!" Tenko excitedly said to the mage.

Keebo looked around at the others nervously, he turned to Shuichi and he noticed that the detective was starting to become flustered, as if he wanted yell out something but couldn't. Me and the robot knew nobody was taking this seriously.

"Um, everyone, if I may have your attention?" Keebo spoke out. "I think we should hear out Shuichi first before we-"

"Nobady cares, Keeboy!" Kokichi yelled.

"Ah!" The robot exclaimed in shock. "N-No! This isn't right! Shuichi isn't lying because me and Sharla were-"

"Yeah, yeah we get it, you're a useless robot." Kokichi interrupted again. "Hey, why don't you make yourself useful and remodel yourself as a toaster?"

"H-How would that make me useful?!" The robotic student asked before shaking his head. "No, wait! I can't focus on that right now!"

The whole trial room descended into chaos, as everyone made accusatory remarks at Shuichi while Keebo and Kokichi fought amongst one another. I was tearing up as I gripped my hand into my hair.

Sounds of quiet sobbing echoed in the trial room. The voices from the others slowly stopped as we saw Kaede with her head buried in her hands as she cried into them.

"Kaede..." Shuichi muttered.

Tsumugi looked at the pianist and then closed her eyes as she spoke, "Everyone... I think it's time..."

"...I suppose it is." Kirumi said softly.

"Puhuhuhu..." Monokuma gave a slow and menacing laugh as he took his cue.

_No... This wasn't how it was supposed to go..._ I thought to myself as I lowered my head.

The only me and Shuichi waited as long as we did to prove Kaede's innocence was convince everyone of her purpose in creating the trap. I theorized that even if we proved Kaede wasn't the one who ultimately killed Rantaro, it wouldn't change the fact that she set up a method to kill someone. The two of us didn't want to taint Kaede's image as an attempted murderer, we wanted to show her goodwill to the others. And to my horror, our plan worked frighteningly too well.

"Looks like the debate's finished, so that means it's **Voting Time**!" Monotaro excitedly declared.

_It wasn't supposed to happen like this..._

"Alright, you bastards! Press the button in front of you to cast your vote!" Monokid instructed.

_Why won't anyone believe him..?_

"And make sure y'all vote, cuz refusin' to vote is grounds for termination." Monosuke warned.

_Why won't Kaede believe him..?_

"At last!" Monokuma shouted. "The heart-racing excitement as the blackened and the spotless finally face off…"

_It can't end like this..._

"It's... VOTING TIME!" Monokuma and the Monokubs all shouted together.

**_It can't end like this..!_**

"EVERYONE SHUT UP FOR ONE SECOND!"

I whiped away my tears and saw that before the voting could start, Kaito called out to the others.

"Huh, what, huh?" Monokuma reacted. "What's happening? Are we not doing Voting Time yet?"

"HELL NO WE'RE NOT!" Kaito continued to shout.

Monotaro threw his paws in the air in surprise. "WHAT?! B-B-B-B-B-But we spent weeks memorizing our lines!"

"Ugh, all that time just thrown down the drain." Monosuke muttered.

"Like a goddamn virgin, we prematured all over the place!" Monokid yelled. "Dammit Monodam, I blame you for this!"

Monodam didn't say a thing.

"So, Kaito..." Kokichi said in a suspiciously friendly manner. "Wassup, buddy?"

"And what was the meaning of that outburst just now?" Kiyo asked.

"If I recall, he said that we're not voting." Kirumi said. "Am I correct, Kaito?"

"Damn straight we're not voting yet!" Kaito said with pride as he gave everyone a thumbs-up.

"Oh come on, not you too!" Miu exclaimed in frustration. "Argh, let's just ignore him. He's just a big dumb idiot anyway."

"Don't call me an idiot!" The astronaut shouted.

"Heeeeeeeeee!?" The inventor flinched back in terror.

"Anyway, I say we're not voting until we hear out Shuichi and Sharla!" Kaito exclaimed.

"Huh?" Me and Shuichi looked at the astronaut in surprise.

"Oh." Kokichi said simply. "So this was just a waste of time."

"What's that supposed to mean?" The spikey-haired man asked.

"C'mon, I thought we established Shuichi and Sharla's only trying to stop us because they don't want Kaede to die." The supreme leader explained. "And now that I think about it, Kaito, you don't want her to die as well, right?"

"Of course I don't!" Kaito proudly declared. "I don't think anyone does!"

"No one's accusing anyone of wanting her to die." Tsumugi said. "It's just we have no choice but to vote for Kaede..."

"Yeah." Kokichi agreed. "Unless, y'know, we all choose to die here and now."

"If that's what everyone decides, then I shall do so as well." Kirumi admitted.

Miu groaned in frustration. "I knew you'd try to get me wrapped up in your suicide circle!"

"It's not a suicide circle! And I'm not trying to get anyone killed!" Kaito yelled.

"Aren't you, though?" Kiyo wondered. "Between you, Shuichi and Sharla, trying to stop the rest of us from voting, you're effectively holding us hostage until we see things your way."

"First of all, what the hell is wrong with just hearing out shat Shuichi and Sharla have to say?!" The astronaut asked.

"Yeah, why are you trying to leave our theories out of this trial?!" I yelled.

"That is a fair point." Ryoma agreed. "Even if it does turn out to be a complete waste of time, then that's all it's going to be... a waste of time and nothing more."

"Ooh, I see, I see! Then there's nothing wrong with us hearing out Shuichi and Sharla!" Angie exclaimed.

Tsumugi looked up in curiousity. "I wonder about that..."

"What do you mean?" Kiyo asked the cosplayer.

"I've been meaning to ask..." The blue-haired girl looked towards the twisted bear. "Monokuma, is there a **time limit** to these class trials?"

"A time limit?" Gonta asked.

"You ask that now, of all times?!" Kaito exclaimed.

"S-Sorry!" Tsumugi apologized. "The thought never came up to me until now... and we've been debating for quite awhile now..."

"You have a point there." Tenko admitted.

"Well, Monokuma?" Maki asked.

The black-and-white bear put a paw to his chin. "Hmm, to be honest, I never considered the thought. I was always so sure that you guys would find a way to conclusively resolve them in a timely manner."

"So does that mean there's no time limit?" Himiko asked.

"Well, I wouldn't say that." Monokuma said ominously. "After all, class trials are meant to be entertaining. How can things be kept exciting when everyone ends up at an impasse or they're just too stupid to figure things out?"

"Then what's the time limit?!" I asked in a panic.

**"The time limit is when I get bored!"** The twisted bear siad triumphantly.

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaa?!" Tenko shouted in shock.

"Hah!" Kokichi laughed. "Why am I not surprised it would be a completely petty reason?"

"Just for reference, Father." Monotaro said. "How bored would you say you are now?"

"Hmm..." Monokuma thought about for a second before saying "I'd say... **fifty percent**."

"You're already at fifty?!" Tenko exclaimed.

"What do you mean 'already'?!" Kaito countered. "That just means we're **only at fifty percent!**"

"Huh, so you're the 'glass half-full' types." Tsumugi inquired.

"Time limit or not, it doesn't change a thing. We hear out Shuichi and Sharla, and worse-case scenario, we reach the time limit and vote for Kaede like you all planned" Kaito responded.

"I'm sorry, did you think I'd give you that big of a safety net?" Monokuma asked the astronaut.

"Huh?"

"Au contraire!" The twisted bear shouted. "If you reach the time limit, **I'm just gonna execute everyone!**"

"WHAAAAAAAAAT?!" Tenko yelled even louder than before.

"What the hell!?" Kaito couldn't keep his composure either.

"You scumbag!" I yelled.

"Then we can't waste any time! I don't want anyone else to die because of what I did!" Kaede shouted, finally recomposing herself.

"Kaede, I don't want anyone else to die either-" Shuichi started to say before the pianist cut him off.

"Then why are you and Sharla doing this?! Just vote for me, Shuichi! Vote for me and live on!" She shouted.

"I can't do that, Kaede!" The detective replied as he gripped his chest in response to his emotional pain.

"Why can't you and Sharla believe I'm guilty?!" New tears started to form in Kaede's eyes as she said this. "This is the truth I kept hidden from you two! Isn't it your duty as a detective and a sniper to end this!? Was I wrong to trust-"

"IS THIS REALLY WHAT YOU WANT, KAEDE?!" Kaito yelled at the top of his lungs.

Silence overcame the trial room. The others looked at the astronaut and saw that he was seething. He wasn't showing any boisterous anger anymore, what he showed was genuine.

He took a breath before talking again. "Kaede...I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm disappointed in you."

"Huh..?" Kaede responded.

Kaito looked away. "It's just, all this time you were saying how much you wanted all of us to escape from here and become friends. And now...here you are wanting to die so easily…"

Tsumugi shook her head. "Kaito, that's not fair... It's not like Kaede has a choice."

"The choice is right in front of her!" The astronaut shouted.

"Huh, what do you mean?" The cosplayer asked.

"I'm talking about Shuichi." The spikey-haired boy gestured to the detective next to him.

"Shuichi?" Kaede repeated.

"Think about it." Kaito continued. "He spent all that time explaining your trap, but now he comes out and says you aren't the culprit along with Sharla who stayed quiet up until now? There must be a reason for that, right?"

"Well yeah." Kokichi interjected. "Because it's a lie."

"Call it what you want, but I'm gonna believe in Shuichi and Sharla." The astronaut exclaimed.

"Kaito..." The detective muttered.

Kaede didn't say anything as she looked downwards, taking in the astronaut's words.

"That's all fine and dandy!" Miu broke the tense atmosphere. "But that doesn't mean I'm gonna believe in Poo-ichi and Shyla!"

"Indeed." Kiyo followed. "You've made your stance quite clear, but what's stopping us from still proceeding with the vote?"

Kaito stayed silent for a brief moment before deciding on his next words. "Then let me put it this way... unless I hear Shuichi and Sharla say their piece... I'm refusing to vote, even if you guys decide it's time."

"You're refusing to vote?!" Keebo exclaimed. "B-But if you do that then that means…"

"He'll get executed as well." Kirumi answered.

"So instead of taking us hostage... he's taking himself hostage?" Himiko wondered.

"G-Gonta no want Kaito to die as well!" Gonta yelled.

"Especially since it would be such a pointless death... and an easily preventable one at that." Ryoma muttered.

"Kehehe..." Kiyo laughed as he extended his arms in reverence. "For someone to risk their lives just to hear the words of two people... Spectacular, Kaito Momota, you have shown me the extent of your humanity quite well!"

"So what's it gonna be?" Kaito asked the others.

"I for one, will gladly hear out Shuichi and Sharla." Keebo spoke out first.

"Gonta wants to hear what Shuichi and Sharla has to say!" The entomologist agreed.

"Nyahaha!" Angie raised her hand excitedly. "I want to hear Shuichi and Sharla, too!"

"Very well." Kiyo followed. "You have my attention, Shuichi and Sharla."

The rest of the students gave similar responses of agreement. The trial room was now silent and everyone awaited what me and Shuichi have to say.

But before we could, the two of us looked at the astronaut.

"Kaito... we can't not thank you enough." I said.

"I'm don't know what's going on in those heads of yours, but from what I'd guessed... you two going to save her, right?" The astronaut asked.

"I...I truly hope that's the case." Shuichi said hesitantly.

Kaito scowled. "Don't think I'm not disappointed in you, too."

"What..?" Shuichi asked.

"You could've done a lot better trying to get everyone to listen to you."

"Oh...I'm sorry." The detective said dejectedly.

The astronaut sighed. "C'mon, where was the Shuichi that walked down the shrine brimming with confidence?"

"Huh?" Shuichi was taken aback.

"I'm just saying you looked pretty badass at the time." Kaito said.

"Yeah, it was pretty charming." I admitted.

"I... I didn't even notice..." Shuichi muttered. "In my mind I didn't really think about anything else. I was just so...so…"

"Determined?" Kaito finished.

"...Yes." The detective answered. "I was determined...to save her."

"Well, here's your chance." The astronaut pointed out. "You only get one shot at this, so bring your A-game. After all, if you and Sharla are going to save her...you may as well impress her while doing so."

Kaito gave Shuichi a thumbs-up and a wink. The detective could only blush at the astronaut's implication.

"Hey, are ya done making out with your boyfriend, or are we gonna get this show on the road?" Miu asked.

"No... we're ready." Shuichi said with resolve.

"By the way." Monokuma noted. "I'm now **sixty-five percent bored of this!**"

"Nyeh?!" Himiko squeaked. "A whole fifteen percent?!"

"Then let's not waste anymore time!" Kaito declared confidently.

"All right." I agreed.

I looked at Kaede, who still had her head lowered. It seemed like she shut herself off from the rest of the trial as if she had given up completely. I couldn't blame her, after all she had gone through. However, even if Monokuma says this trial is sixty-five percent over, me, Shuichi, and a few of the others knew this was only the beginning.


	10. Chapter 1: HCT, OCT - Part 8

"The truth is that me and Shuichi already discovered Kaede's trap during the investigation." I began. "It was when we looked at the murder weapon that we realized she was a prime suspect."

"I see." Kiyo said. "And as previously deduced before, she had the most obvious opportunity to obtain the murder weapon out of the rest of us."

"I came to that conclusion at the time as well." Shuichi confirmed.

"For you to realize someone you were close to come up with such a scheme." Ryoma muttered. "That must've been quite a shock."

"It was." The detective admitted.

"B-But Shuichi and Sharla say Kaede is not culprit, right?" Gonta pointed out.

"That point has been made quite clear." Kiyo stated. "Which begs the question, how exactly did you come to this conclusion?"

"The moment we realized Kaede could be behind this, we needed to test it out for myself." I said.

"'Test' it..?" Tenko wondered. "Test what?"

"Kaede's trap." I responded.

"Hmm..." Kiyo looked at me inquisitively. "So at that point, you two had also figured out the method behind Kaede's trap?"

I simply nodded in confirmation.

"That seems awfully convenient." Maki muttered. "Is there anyone else here that can support your claim?"

As if on cue, Kirumi made an audible sound out of her mouth as if she'd realized something. "Ah, could it be?"

The anthropologist looked at the maid and asked "Something you'd like to say, Kirumi?"

"There may be some merit to what Sharla is saying." The maid said to the others.

Kokichi gasped excitedly. "What's this?! There's actually someone who can help prove Sharla's story to be true?! Gee, Kirumi, it's a good thing you're here otherwise I don't think anyone else would've supported her!"

Keebo glared at the supreme leader.

"Shuichi, I recall there being a moment where you climbed up the ladder in the library to observe something." Kirumi recalled.

"He did?" Tsumugi asked.

"Oh!" Gonta suddenly exclaimed. "If Shuichi go up ladder, then he must've been checking..."

"The stack of books!" Angie finished for the entomologist.

"And it was at that moment when you realized the peculiar setup of those books, right Shuichi?" Keebo asked.

"Me and Sharla were with Kaede in the room when she arranged them at the time." The detective explained. "So it would only be natural that I would connect those pieces."

"And that's why Sharla asked for us to leave you and her alone in the library." Kirumi concluded.

"She did what?" Tsumugi questioned again.

"I can attest to that." Ryoma admitted.

"Feh!" Miu scoffed. "So that was the reason."

"Ryoma and Miu, too?" Himiko noticed.

"Seems that everyone who was investigating in the library can give some support to Shuichi and Sharla's claims." Kiyo mentioned.

"Hold on." Tsumugi interrupted. "I was investigating the library, too. So why didn't I see all this?"

"Isn't it obvious, you bespectacled lesbo?!" Miu shouted. "It was when you took Kaede to the bathroom for a quickie when this all happened!"

"S-She did what, now?" Kaito asked as he blushed.

"Pay attention." Maki said as she sighed. "We already established Tsumugi took Kaede to the bathroom to prove **she can't disguise herself as other people**. Miu's just being an idiot."

"D-Don't c-call me an i-idiot..." The inventor stuttered. "Besides, it was that facial-haired idiot over there who took my words in that way!"

"Who are you calling a facial-haired idiot?!" The astronaut spat. "I'm not an idiot! You're an idiot for wording it that way!"

"Correction, you're both idiots." The caregiver snarked as she glared daggers ar the two.

"D-Don't call us idiots!" Both Kaito and Miu yelled.

"We're getting seriously off-topic here." Ryoma plainly stated.

"Indeed." Kiyo noted, deciding to lead the discussion back on track. "So with there being credence to Shuichi and Sharla's claim, if Sharla did ask for you guys to leave the library, I assume you followed her directions, correct?"

"No way." Tenko said in disbelief. "You all just left them alone in the library?"

Ryoma tucked his cap downward. "Hmph, I highly doubted they would try to tamper evidence that far into the investigation."

"I just thought they needed to be alone so they could tug one out." Miu said bluntly.

"Why in the world would you think that?" Tsumugi asked.

"Well, it's because Poo-ichi is a detective, right? Don't they have like... a fetish for old-ass libraries or something?" The strawberry blonde-haired girl answered.

"Didn't I just tell you to stop being an idiot?" Maki asked as she glared at Miu.

"S-Sorry..." The inventor meekly apologized.

"What about you, Kirumi?" Kiyo asked the maid. "Did you willingly leave Shuichi and Sharla alone in the library?"

"I know that it's my duty as a maid to fulfill a person's request, but I couldn't help but be cautious." Kirumi explained. "I agreed to Sharla's terms on one condition."

"Condition?" Gonta repeated.

"I asked that her and Shuichi have at least one other person with them in the library." The maid continued. "And at the time, the person who made themselves available to watch Shuichi and Sharla was K-"

"Kee-boy!" Kokichi suddenly shouted. "It looks like it's your time to shine!"

Kirumi paused. "Keebo?"

The robot smiled and stood proud. "Kokichi, I will interpret your statement as a regular saying and not you making a reference to my metal body. That's correct everyone, I was with Shuichi and Sharla in the library when we tested out Kaede's trap!"

Kaede, who was previously shutting herself off from the discussion, slowly raised her head in curiosity.

"You were?!" Tenko asked the robot.

"Why didn't you mention that before, you walking vibrator?!" Miu exclaimed.

"Believe me, I would've wanted nothing more than to tell all of you as soon as possible." Keebo explained. "It's just that I was only following Shuichi and Sharla's-"

"One moment, if you would." Kiyo interrupted. "Who was the **fourth person**?"

"Huh? Fourth person?" Himiko questioned.

"Let's assume everything up to this point is the truth." The anthropologist began. "And Shuichi and Sharla did indeed have the opportunity to test out Kaede's death trap intended for the mastermind."

"Which is supported now that Keebo confessed his involvement in this." Ryoma pointed out.

"Precisely." The long-haired boy agreed. "If the three were all in the library bearing witness to the results of their little experiment, there had to have been a fourth person involved as well."

"Oh!" Angie suddenly exclaimed, realizing the anthropologist's point. "Someone needed to roll the shot put ball from Classroom A!"

Kiyo nodded. "Again... precisely."

"Did they really need to go all the way to Classroom A just to roll a ball?" The former tennis pro wondered. "Couldn't they have just rolled it from within the library?"

"Me and Shuichi weren't sure if the results would've been accurate." I explained. "We needed to be as authentic as possible, which means the trap needed to be reenacted in it's entirety."

"It would've been careless for a detective to half-ass an experiment like that." Kaito supported.

"I agree." Kiyo nodded once more. "And assuming this all occurred as Shuichi, Sharla, and Keebo stated, we can safely conclude that a fourth person also assisted in this test as well."

"So who was fourth person?" Gonta asked.

"Kokichi." Kirumi suddenly said. "It must've been you, correct?"

"Huh?!" Tsumugi questioned. "Kokichi?"

"K... Kokichi..?" Kaede broke her long silence.

The supreme leader looked around the room and noticed all eyes were on him. "H-Huh?...M-M-Me…?"

"Why are you sweating?" Maki asked bluntly.

As the caregiver said, Kokichi's face was covered in sweat as he fidgeted with his checkered scarf. "I-I-It's j-j-j-just e-everyone's l-l-looking at m-m-m-m-m-m-me and…..I'm n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-not sure w-w-what t-t-t-to d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-do…."

"Kokichi... You're not being accused of anything." The maid snarked as she put her gloved hand to her forehead.

"Oh." The supreme leader smiled as he rested his arms behind his head. "Thank goodness for that."

"You sure recovered fast from that." Maki observed.

"So am I correct, Kokichi?" Kirumi asked. "You were the one who helped out Shuichi and Sharla and dropped the shot put ball into the vent from Classroom A."

"But why Kokichi, Kirumi?" Kaito questioned. "What makes you think it's him?"

"Because he was the one who I assigned to watch Shuichi and Sharla." The maid answered.

"Oh he was, was he?" Kiyo said.

"I guess the cat's out of the bag." Kokichi said happily.

"Oh great, now why didn't YOU mention that earlier?!" Miu exclaimed.

Tears started forming in the supreme leader's eyes. "I'm sorry...everyone was just ganging up on Shuichi, Sharla, and Keebo and I didn't want to get bullied either so I kept quiet."

"You were the one who was bullying Keebo, you degenerate!" Tenko shouted.

"So is it true?" Gonta asked. "Did Kokichi and Keebo help Shuichi and Sharla to test Kaede's trap?"

"That's correct, Gonta." Keebo answered. "With Kokichi up in Classroom A, he was able to roll **five shot put balls** into the vent to test the accuracy of the deathtrap."

"F-Five shot put balls?" Tsumugi said surprised.

"Five... shot puts..." Kaede muttered, seeming to put together some pieces in her own mind.

"Don't leave us hanging now!" Kaito became anxious. "What was the result of the test?"

"Shouldn't that be obvious?" Kiyo said pointedly. "This whole discussion came about because Shuichi and Sharla were so insistent on proving Kaede's innocence. They've been so certain that she didn't kill Rantaro, which could only mean..."

"Kaede's trap didn't work." I finished for the anthropologist.

"Y-You serious?!" Kaito quickly asked, wishing for my words to be true.

"Absolutely!" Keebo declared. "I saw the whole thing, and each of the five shot put balls missed their mark completely! It didn't land where Rantaro was supposed to be at the time."

"Really?" Tenko asked, her tone filled with newfound hope. "Did Kaede's trap really not work?!"

"If Kaede's trap no work, then that mean Kaede not kill Rantaro!" Gonta exclaimed, becoming hopeful himself.

Angie brought her hands together in excitement. "Hooray! That means Kaede gets to stay with us in the land of the living! I guess her meeting with Atua will be put on hold."

"Hahahahaha!" Kokichi laughed happily. "Exactly, guys! Kaede's not the culprit! And it's all thanks to Shuichi and Sharla!"

Me and Shuichi gave the supreme leader a slight smile, the two of us were wary of the purple-haired boy at first but now we were relieved that he was on our side.

"Yup!" Kokichi continued. "Thanks to them, they were able to figure out Kaede's trap while also having Keebo as a witness AND have me roll five shot put balls into the vent to confirm that it didn't work five-out-of-five times! Isn't that... ISN'T THAT..."

He suddenly made a sinister face.

**"...the most convenient lie in the entire goddamn world?"** The supreme leader finished.

"...Huh..?" Me and Shuichi muttered audibly.

"A... lie?" Gonta questioned.

"Are you refuting Shuichi, Sharla, and Keebo's story, by any chance?" Kiyo asked.

"Y'know...I was going to go along with their lie…" The purple-haired boy explained. "...but then I realized how utterly ridiculous that story was. I mean, don't get me wrong, I would want nothing more than for this lie to be the truth and have Kaede be innocent. Unfortunately, I'm a realist, and everything about that story screams 'wish fulfillment'."

"K-Kokichi!" Keebo pointed at the supreme leader. "What are you doing?!"

"Isn't it obvious..?" Kokichi started trembling his words. "I'm trying... not to die..."

"D-Die?" Shuichi was slowly becoming worried about the events about to transpire.

"Yeah." The small purple-haired boy started tearing up. "Because if I keep going along with this...everyone will think Kaede isn't the culprit and vote for someone else. But I can't let that happen! If we don't vote for Kaede, then everyone will die except her!"

"So you're saying that you still believe Kaede is the true blackened?" Kiyo tried to clarify.

Kokichi sniffled. "Of course I still believe that!"

"Kokichi, stop this!" Keebo shouted. "You were helping me, Shuichi, and Sharla test out Kaede's trap! I saw you holding the shot put balls! The two of us even put them back in the warehouse together!"

"Kee-boy..." The supreme leader started. "I'm no longer gonna lie for you, Shuichi, and Sharla... the truth is... after Kirumi told me to watch Shuichi and Sharla, Sharla told me to leave her and Shuichi alone in the library!"

Kirumi's expression turned dark. "She did what?"

"I did not!" I quickly exclaimed. "I told him to go to Classroom A and roll a shot put down the vent."

"So you did tell him to leave the library?" Kirumi confirmed.

"Well... yes I did." I admitted.

"So what if she did?!" Kaito cut in. "It was necessary for their experiment, right? And what about Keebo? Why would he lie for Shuichi and Sharla?"

Kokichi chuckled. "Isn't it obvious? He doesn't want Kaede to die so he decided to help Shuichi and Sharla come up with their grand whole lie of refuting the entire case! And also, Keebo's a robot, so like, he probably doesn't care if he himself gets executed cause he can, like, repair himself or something."

"Do you even know how machines work?!" Keebo yelled as he pointed his metal finger at the supreme leader.

"Wh... What's going on..?" Himiko was starting to become confused. "Is Kokichi telling the truth... or is he lying?"

"Of course he's lying!" The robot shouted. "Me, Shuichi, and Sharla wouldn't tell you this if it wasn't the least bit true!"

"Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing whether you guys are telling the truth about Kaede's trap not working." Tsumugi sadly stated.

"However..." Kiyo followed. "We have no way of knowing whether the opposite is true, as well."

"You mean if Kaede's trap worked?" Kirumi asked.

"Indeed." The anthropologist answered. "Did the trap work? Did it not work? These are scenarios that are sadly lost to time."

Kaito growled in frustration. "If only we knew about the trap earlier in the investigation, then we could've all seen it for ourselves."

"What's wrong with believing me, Shuichi, and Sharla?!" Keebo asked, getting more and more flustered.

"Even if we did believe you, that would only open up another can of worms!" Tsumugi said.

"Can of worms?" Gonta wondered. "Does Tsumugi also like taking care of bugs?"

"It's merely an expression, Gonta." Kirumi stayed patient with the entomologist.

"Oh... Gonta sees."

"What do you mean, Tsumugi?" Tenko asked.

"If Kaede isn't the culprit, then who is it really?" The cosplayer pondered. "How did they do it? Where did they do it from? We would have to answer all these questions but we just don't have enough time to do that!"

"I'm at **69%**, in case anyone's wondering." Monokuma said.

"Wow, Pop, '69'?" Monosuke was unamused. "Really?"

"What can I say?" The twisted bear replied in embarrassment. "I'm as vulgar as I am cuddly!"

"I thought that was me!" Monokid shouted.

"We're running out of time..." Ryoma warned.

"Hey, as long as we still have time on the clock, we need to use as much as we can to solve this case!" Kaito tried to encourage.

"That's very optimistic of you, Kaito." Keebo complimented the astronaut. "But unfortunately we're running out of ways to convince everyone that what we're saying is the truth. What do you think we should do Shuichi….Shuichi?"

After a few moments without an answer, me and the robotic student looked at the detective, who was deep in thought.

"There was a saying that was told to me back when I first became the Ultimate Detective." Shuichi spoke aloud. **"A little lie can support a bigger lie."**

"A little lie can support... a bigger lie?" Me and Keebo parroted.

"Oh yeah?" Miu said. "Well my tight little vagina can support a bigger dick, what are you trying to say?"

"What I'm saying is that rather than try to contradict the bigger lie." The detective began to explain. "I'm gonna go for the little lie. That way the support will come crumbling down and we'll be one step closer to the truth!"

"Grrrah, are you even speaking the same language?!" The inventor said in frustration. "What the hell does that mean?!"

"It means I'm gonna expose your lies, Kokichi!" The uncapped boy yelled out.

"Oh?" Kokichi raised his eyebrows in curiosity. "What's this?"

"If me and Sharla can't prove Kaede's trap didn't work with our own testimony, then we'll refute your testimony to prove that you indeed helped us and rolled the shot put balls into the vent!" Shuichi declared at the supreme leader.

"Interesting..." Kokichi gave the detective his signature mischievous smile. "You really think you can contradict my claim?"

"Quite easily, in fact." I snarked.

The supreme leader chuckled. "Oh ho ho! Was that a speck of confidence I detected from the detective and the sniper?"

"If you were half the detective that Shuichi is and half the sniper that I am, you would've come up with a better lie for us to contradict." I countered.

The purple-haired boy's expression slowly went into full reset mode as he stared at me with a blank look on his face. Then he snickered.

Snickering turned into chuckling and the chuckling turned into laughter. The laughter suddenly grew in volume until Kokichi was finally laughing maniacally. His voice rang throughout the room as some of the others had wary looks on their faces. Me and Shuichi looked at our opponent as if we were analyzing his current actions. The supreme leader laughing in that state was not exactly a foreign concept to anyone, but the two of us noticed something odd. The volume of the sound, the tone of the laughter, something was different this time around. As if the other times before he was merely faking, and now Kokichi himself has found a genuine reason to laugh in this fashion.

"WHAT IS THIS FEELING I'M HAVING DEEP WITHIN ME?!" The supreme leader said in between laughs. "COULD IT BE SHUICHI, SHARLA, THAT, YOU'RE THE ONES?!"

"The ones what?" Me and Shuichi could only ask.

**"THE ONES WHO CAN KEEP ME ENTERTAINED THROUGHOUT THIS ENTIRE KILLING GAME!"**

Me and the detective looked at each other in realization before looking back at Kokichi. Hia laughter slowly subsided, but he continued in his deranged state. "If that's how you want to play it, then fine! Let us engage in a battle of wits! My brain against yours! The Ultimate Supreme Leader versus the Ultimate Detective! This battle was inevitable but I don't think anyone expected for it to happen so soon! So sit back everyone, and watch how a couple of pros show you how it's done!"

"Kokichi..." I didn't want to humor him. "This isn't a game. If you don't start taking this seriously we're all gonna-"

"I challenge you to a duel!" The purple-haired boy suddenly yelled at the detective.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Shuichi asked.

"Oh Shuichi..." Kokichi sighed. "I take things one hundred percent seriously one hundred percent of the time!"

"Is that right..?" Shuichi put a hand to his chin.

"Of course!" The supreme leader confirmed. "Oh, and speaking of 'one hundred percent', I suggest you hurry things up or else we'll all die and this will be for nothing~!"

"Don't you worry, I have a good idea on what your lie is…" The detective declared confidently.

Kokichi smiled and took a breath before giving his rebuttal. "So you and Sharla really insist that I helped you guys with your supposed experiment, but that's just ONE BIG LIE! The moment Kirumi left the room Sharla told me to leave the library as well. All to create this convenient alibi for herself and you saying that you proved Kaede didn't kill Rantaro. Doesn't that sound a little fishy to you?"

Shuichi thought about his next words before answering the supreme leader. "Sharla's actions are irrelevant at this point. The fact is that you helped us, and I can prove it!"

"Hah!" The purple-haired boy laughed. "Then reveal your hand, Mr. Detective! Where's the proof that shows my involvement? Did I leave any evidence behind? Were there any witnesses besides you, Sharla, and Keebo? Or maybe you set up some automatic cameras elsewhere and I got caught on film!"

I listened to his testimony very carefully and found the contradiction Shuichi was looking for.

_**"Were there any witnesses besides you, Sharla, and Keebo?"**_

_There..._ I thought as Shuichi pointed straight at Kokichi, ready to contradict his statement.

"I'll cut through your-"

**"No, that's wrong!"**

Before the detective could finish his sentence, he was cut off by a voice. I turned to face the person who interrupted Kokichi and Shuichi's showdown.

"Kaede?" Shuichi called out her name as he saw the pianist had her finger pointed at the supreme leader, her expression in a state as if she realized something herself.

"Umm... Kaede?" Kokichi looked displeased at the blonde-haired girl. "What are you doing? Me and Shuichi are kinda having this dance right now and it's very rude of you to just cut in between us like that."

Gonta nodded his head. "Kokichi right, Kaede, it very ungentlemanly to interrupt dance between two people."

"Hold on a second, Gonta." I said before turning back to the pianist. "Is there something on your mind, Kaede?"

"It's just..." Kaede began. "Kokichi... you're lying."

"Hmm?" The supreme leader responded.

"You're lying." The pianist emphasized. **"Because I saw you... I saw you walking around with the murder weapon!"**

"You saw him?" Kiyo asked.

"Yeah, and it wasn't just me." The blonde-haired girl answered. **"Tsumugi saw him too, right Tsumugi?"**

"H-Huh..?" The cosplayer was taken aback before composing herself. "Oh, right..."

"'Oh, right'?!" Miu suddenly yelled. "'OH, RIGHT'?! That's all you two can say after you kept this from us the whole time?! Fuck me, why the hell is everyone hiding important information?!"

"S-Sorry!" The blue-haired girl quickly apologized. "I just thought it was one of Kokichi's pranks, so I didn't think it would be important to this case."

"Pranks?" Kirumi wondered.

"Well, when we stopped him and asked him what he was doing, he told us he was going to the warehouse because he suspected the killer left an important piece of evidence behind." Kaede explained.

"I see." Kiyo took note of the pianist's recollection.

"But like I said, it was all just one of Kokichi's dumb pranks." Tsumugi said. "Because when we went with him to the warehouse, he made a mess of all the sports equipment that was there, and then we took the blame and the Monokubs had us clean the place."

"Kokichi ran off before they showed up so he didn't take any of the blame." Kaede continued. "It took us quite a while to clean that warehouse..."

"Kokichi!" Tenko yelled. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

The supreme leader gave an exaggerated surprised expression. "Is the cat out of the bag, AGAIN!?"

"So you admit it!" The aikido master exclaimed.

A sigh escaped from the purple-haired boy's mouth. "Yeah...it's just...Rantaro's death hit everyone so hard...I thought a little prank would lighten up the mood…"

"That's what I thought." Tsumugi admitted.

"Was it really all just for a prank, though?" I questioned.

"What does Sharla mean?" Gonta asked.

I turned to the pianist. "What do you think, Kaede?"

She turned to face me. "Huh? Me..?"

"You were there, after all." I explained. "Did you really think it was just a prank?"

"I mean, you took the time to interrupt me and Shuichi's battle, so you must've had a good reason in doing so other than just to point out my 'prank'." Kokichi followed.

The blonde-haired girl bashfully twiddled her fingers. "You... You were holding the bloody shot put in your hand...That means the only time you were able to get it was when…"

"He was with Shuichi and Sharla in the library." Kiyo finished. "Which means Sharla must have given him the murder weapon to roll it from Classroom A. Kehehe, slowly but certainly the truth of this case peeks out at us."

"'Slowly' is goddamn right!" Kaito shouted. "Why the hell did you lead us in circles just to get to this point?!"

"Well SOR-RY!" Kokichi shouted back. "I just wanted to have a go at the Ultimate Detective, but then a certain blonde bimbo decided to butt in on that!"

Miu glared at the supreme leader. "Who're you calling a blonde-"

"NOT YOU!" The purple-haired boy yelled at the inventor.

"Heeeeee!?" The strawberry blonde-haired girl squealed. "O-Of course it wouldn't be me...why would it…?"

"Well what was I supposed to do?" Kaede said, knowing that Kokichi was referring to her. "I had no reason to keep what I knew to myself!"

"But that means you believe us now, right Kaede?" Keebo asked.

"Huh..?" The pianist questioned.

Shuichi seemed to become lost in thought as if something was slowly coming to him.

"You proved that fact yourself." The robot continued. "That Kokichi was indeed helping us test out your deathtrap."

"But he just walked into the warehouse with a bloody shot put and tripped." Angie pointed out. "How does that prove that Kokichi actually helped you guys?"

"Think about it." The robotic student replied. "Kokichi didn't go to the warehouse just to mess with Tsumugi and Kaede. If you connect his actions with what the two of us have told you then you'll know his true purpose."

"His true... purpose?" Tsumugi repeated.

"It..." Kaede hesitated before speaking. "It was to get the other shot put balls, wasn't it?"

"DING-DING-DING!" Kokichi imitated a boxing ring bell. "Another point goes to Kaede Akamatsu, the Ultimate Pianist!"

"Shuichi, Sharla, and Keebo did say that they were able to test out their experiment five times." Kiyo noted. "It makes sense for that to have been the moment they were able to obtain multiple shot put balls."

"But why did they need five?" Himiko asked. "Couldn't they have done it with only the original ball?"

"They probably wanted to test it out multiple times to further determine the accuracy." The anthropologist theorized. "Impressive, Shuichi. As expected of a detective, you leave no stone unturned."

"Or in this case, no metal balls unturned!" Angie added.

"Um, actually, I thought of that little detail all by myself." Kokichi said.

"Is that so?" Kirumi questioned.

"Are you sure this isn't another lie?" Maki followed.

"Geez, that's a little mean." The supreme leader pouted. "Fine, if you don't believe me, ask Shuichi. Right, Shuichi?"

He wouldn't get a response because Shuichi was thinking to himself once again.

"Shuichi?" Kokichi tried to get the detective's attention. "Shuichi, buddy?"

"Hmm, it seems he's a bit preoccupied at the moment." Ryoma noted.

"This is starting to become a recurring thing for him." Kirumi said.

"Though it is fascinating to see the actions of the Ultimate Detective in his element." Kiyo praised. "I would love to go into his mind and witness his inner machinations."

"Well if he's too busy jerkin' off his brain." Miu said. "Then he better hurry the fuck up and splurge his knowledge all over our faces!"

"Bleagh!" Tenko exclaimed in disgust. "I did NOT need that image!"

"Anyway." Kaito led all of us back to the discussion at hand. "Whether it was Kokichi or Shuichi, who cares about any of that? The point is Kokichi helped Shuichi, Sharla, and Keebo, and that means we now have four people who say Kaede isn't the culprit! So that means what they're saying HAS to be true!"

"That's quite a leep in logic..." Tsumugi muttered.

"Kokichi aside, me, Shuichi, and Sharla have no reason to lie." Keebo pointed out.

"Wowww, Kee-boy." Kokichi said, impressed with the robot. "You managed to do some damage to me and you didn't even need a rocket punch for that!"

"Like I said, I would not have such crude functions." The robot replied.

"Keebo does make a fair point." Kiyo said. "Their lives are on the line, so I don't imagine they would have it in themselves to lie."

"Maybe it's the exact opposite of that." Ryoma said.

"What do you mean?" The anthropologist asked.

The former tennis pro made a grim expression. "Let's say everything those three said have been true and they did test out Kaede's trap. However, results showed that the trap DID work and now they're trying to lie for Kaede's sake."

"What..? Lie..? No..!" I cried out.

"Now let me ask, if they are lying about the results of their test, then why?" The short man continued.

"Why..?" Himiko wondered.

"Why would they lie, knowing they would die by doing so?" Ryoma finished.

"Obviously it would be to protect Kaede." Maki said.

"Exactly." The former tennis pro agreed. "Maybe they realized Kaede's intentions for creating the trap and decided she deserved to live...rather than the rest of us."

"What?!" Me and Keebo exclaimed.

Miu became livid. "What a load of bullshit!"

The robot turned to the inventor in relief. "Yes, thank you, Miu, I couldn't agree-"

"I'm talking about you and Shyla, Keebo!" She responded.

"Huh?!"

"You're willing to sacrifice a genius, such as myself, to save Kaeidiot!?"

Keebo shooked his head. "N-No! We... I would never-"

"No way in hell is that true!" Kaito yelled. "These guys wouldn't put all our lives in danger just to save one person!"

"But...isn't that what they're doing, now?" Tsumugi said.

"Seventy-five percent!" Monokuma said happily. "Puhuhuhu!"

"Gonta not very good with numbers." The entomologist admitted. "Is that bad?"

"It is." Ryoma confirmed. "And all we've been doing is going around in circles deciding whether or not we believe Keebo, Shuichi, and Sharla."

"It doesn't help when one of them is off daydreaming!" Miu said, giving a non-subtle hint to the detective, not that he would notice.

"Well then, let's settle this once and for all." Kaito proposed. "Who here believes Keebo, Shuichi, and Sharla's claim that Kaede's NOT the culprit?"

Gonta immediately raised his hand. "Gonta believes them!"

Angie followed just as quickly. "Angie does, too!"

"I-It's not like me to believe in a degenerate male." Tenko began. "...But if it means Kaede gets to live, then I'll believe in those three."

"Are you all serious right now?" Maki asked in a harsh tone.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kaito asked the caretaker.

"You're all letting your emotions get the better of you." The twin-tailed girl said. "You believe in Keebo, Shuichi, and Sharla's words because you don't want Kaede to die. That's the only reason."

"What's wrong with believing in someone?" The astronaut's tone started to become just as harsh.

"This is a class trial to prove that one of us is guilty in murdering someone." Maki explained. "If we start determining guilt and innocence through emotion alone, we blind ourselves from the truth. The moment you put your own selfish 'feelings' in a class trial is the moment the truth is lost."

"Well well well." Kokichi smiled at the girl. "I didn't expect such cynical views from the Ultimate Child Caregiver."

Maki looked away from the supreme leader. "I'm just being realistic. Things like 'trust' and 'emotions' are irrelevant in a killing game."

"You..." Kaito clenched his fists. "How can you think that?!"

"Don't give me that." The child caregiver glared at the astronaut with dark eyes. "I barely know any of you, so why should I risk my life believing in a stranger's words?"

Keebo sighed. "I suppose we now know Maki's stance on this."

"Unfortunately I agree with her on this." Ryoma said.

Kaito looked at the tennis pro. "You too, Ryoma?!"

"I'm sorry." He apologized. "But I know better than to get my hopes up. It's a cruel world we live in, and I've had a firsthand experience in it."

Kirumi raised her hand. "I'd also like to group myself with Ryoma and Maki. After all, Sharla broke the promise she made with me back in the library, so I can't help but feel there's more foul play involved."

I gasped in horror. This was Reyn and Dunban's deaths all over again! "No... wait..."

"Great..." Kaito said in bitter sarcasm. "Then it's three for team 'Kaede did it'."

"It's OK!" Tenko said in hopeful optimism. "We still outnumber them, and with Himiko at our side, that adds another in our favor!"

"Nyeh?" The mage reacted. "Me?"

"You're on our side, right Himiko?" Tenko asked.

The red-head paused before responding, "...No."

The aikido master flinched back in shock. "HUH?!"

"I think we should just vote for Kaede." The mage explained. "Time's running out anyway, and it would be a pain to continue this trial when it's already gone on for so long."

"N-No..." Tenko looked at her friend with sadness in her eyes. "Himiko..."

"I ain't believing in them, either!" Miu exclaimed. "Why the hell should I when Kaeidiot herself says she's the culprit!?"

"H-Huh?" Kaede said, slightly surprised by the inventor's statement.

"Kaede..." I spoke to her. "Do you... still think you did it..?"

"I...I…" The blonde-haired girl hesitated. "Y-Yes...I still do."

Kaito gave a low groan in frustration. "Even now, Kaede?"

"I'm sorry..." The pianist sadly apologized. "I...know what I did...I just...I just can't imagine someone else would have…"

_She's starting to doubt this._ I thought as I gave low growl of determination.

"I'm with Kaede on this." Tsumugi said. "I can't, in good faith, go against her wishes."

_That's it, me and Shuichi have been going through this the wrong way._

"What about the rest of you?" The cosplayer asked the opposing group. "Are you all willing to go against what Kaede herself believes?"

_Rather than try to convince everyone else of Kaede's innocence..._

"If it means saving her, then you're damn right we are!" Kaito declared.

_There's only __**one person**__ who I need to convince!_

"But with Kaede and Tsumugi on their side, we're now tied!" Tenko informed her group.

"In that case, you can count me in to put the odds in your favor." Kiyo offered.

"Really?" Kaito was a little shocked. "Why?"

"I still doubt our four 'trap testers' would go to such lengths to risk their lives if there was no truth to their claim." The anthropologist explained. "Also...there are some other concerns that have come to light…"

"Other concerns?" Keebo inquired.

"By all means, pay no mind to my ramblings." The long-haired man dismissed. "But this should be sufficient, yes?"

"You're damn right it is!" Kaito shouted happily.

"Hmm?" Kokichi wondered. "What'd you mean?"

"We have the majority." The astronaut explained. "With Shuichi, Sharla, and Keebo, me, Kiyo, Tenko, you, Gonta and Angie-"

"Whoa whoawhoawhoawhoa." The supreme leader interrupted. "Why me?"

Kaito blinked at him. "...What?"

The purple-haired boy blinked back. "...I never said I'd join you guys."

"Oh come on!" Keebo yelled in exasperation. "Why must you always make things more difficult for us!?"

"Geez louise." Kokichi raised his hands in defense. "Didn't know robots could get angry."

"I'm not angry-" The robotic student realized his tone and composed himself. "You helped us with the test, so you know that Kaede's trap didn't work."

"Well that's not entirely true." The supreme leader pointed out. "Remember, I didn't actually see the results of that test, y'know, due to me being up in Classroom A."

"So you don't believe me, Sharla, and Shuichi?"

"It's not that I don't believe you guys." The purple-haired boy said coyly. "But you know how it is."

"No, I do not know!" The robot replied. "What exactly are your true intentions here?"

"Neeheehee." The supreme leader laughed. "What, indeed."

"I suppose that's that." Tsumugi concluded. "It's eight to eight on wanting to end this trial."

"Now hold on a second." Kaito tried to steer the discussion from it's current path. "Remember what I said before-"

"You said you would refuse to vote unless you heard what Shuichi and Sharla had to say." The cosplayer stopped him before he threatened his own life again. "You got what you wanted, so you can't use yourself as a hostage anymore."

"Tch, dammit." The astronaut cursed.

"But this can't be end..." Gonta said, defeated.

"I'm sorry, Gonta." Tsumugi told the entomologist. "Please allow us to make this difficult decision. In order for all of us to survive, we need to vote and we need to do it n-"

**"It seems we're split right down the middle."** Shuichi suddenly said.

"H-Huh?" The cosplayer said in response.

"Shuichi!" I called out his name. "Help us out, will you?"

"Hey, if it isn't, Shuichi!" Kokichi greeted. "Glad you could join us for this class trial!"

"That aside..." Monokuma also decided to join the conversation. "What was that I just heard?"

The detective glanced at the headmaster. "Oh, it's just that we just established two groups with opposing views... and it doesn't look like we're going to reach a consensus anytime soon…"

"Are you perhaps suggesting we hold a **Debate Scrum**?" The bear asked the hatless boy.

"A Debate Scrum?!" Monosuke exclaimed.

"B-B-But we already had one for this trial!" Monokid yelled.

"Funny enough, that one was about Shuichi, right?" Monophanie pointed out.

"Two Debate Scrums in one trial?" Monotaro questioned. "So we are competing for longest trial ever!"

"Shuichi." Kirumi turned to the previously quiet student. "What are you doing?"

"It's only fair, yes?" The detective suggested. "Let's all get a chance to say our piece before we decide on where we proceed from here."

"Is this wise?" Tsumugi asked. "After all, I don't think we have much time for-"

**"Sixty-five percent!"** Monokuma announced.

"I-It went down!?" The cosplayer said, surprised.

"Aww, I can't resist a legit Debate Scrum." The headmaster admitted. "I'm getting excited just thinking about it!"

"Damn straight!" Kaito yelled happily. "That's my bro!"

Shuichi curiously looked at the astronaut. "Uh…'bro'?"

"I am fine with this outcome." Keebo spoke with confidence. "This will be our last stand in swaying the others!"

"Oh ho ho!" Kokichi said with amusement. "Is that a challenge, Kee-boy?"

"Himiko!" Tenko shouted at the mage. "I'm not going against you because I want to! This is for the sake of our loving friendship!"

The red-headed mage pouted at the aikido master, clearly annoyed at this turn of events. "What a pain."

Kirumi sighed. "Very well, I will fulfill this request for a debate and hopefully you will see the error of your logic."

"And with a genius such as myself participating, you all have no hope of convincing us!" Miu told the group.

"They won't stop no matter what." Tsumugi lamented aside. "Well, even if it's painful, we'll just have to do our best and convince them, right Kaede? ….Kaede?"

The pianist didn't respond. All she could do was stare at me and Shuichi.

"Shuichi..." She spoke to the detective.

"Yes, Kaede?" He quickly responded.

"I…I..." The blonde-haired girl hesitated her words once more before she suddenly shook her head. "I'm the killer. That's what I believe right now."

The hatless boy breathed out calmly as he closed his eyes. "All right. That's okay."

I simply gave him a nod in confirmation. He returned it as we prepared for what was about to happen. Monokuma pulled out a key from behind him and inserted it into a lock that was in front of him. At that moment the podiums in the trial room started raising up one by one until the trial grounds itself started morphing into a completely different area. Sets of podiums now faced against each other as if it became an actual room for debating rather than for mere discussions.

On one side stood Tsumugi, Kirumi, Ryoma, Miu, Himiko, Maki, Kokichi, and Kaede. On the other side was me, Shuichi, Kaito, Kiyo, Angie, Tenko, Gonta, and Keebo.

The question that stood on all of our minds: **Is Kaede the culprit?**

Tsumugi began the debate. "Kaede was the one who set up the murder trap."

Shuichi was already quick to the draw. "I saw it with my own eyes that the trap didn't work."

"You were all alone in the library, so you could be lying." Kirumi was also quick to point out.

"Shuichi wasn't alone, Keebo and Sharla were also there!" Kaito defended his newly decreed soul brother.

"Then they're all lying to protect Kaede." Ryoma suggested.

"What would be the point of lying if their lives were on the line?" Kiyo asked.

Miu didn't answer the anthropologist and offered her own argument. "Kaeidiot says she did it, so what's the problem here?!"

"The problem is that even if Kaede herself believes it, that doesn't mean she did it." Angie was happy to counter.

Himiko was at her wits end. "Nyeh, this is such a pain...why don't we just vote already?"

"Himiko, if we vote now, then we'll all be killed!" Tenko did her best to convince the frustrated mage.

"Do you honestly believe that Kaede didn't do it?" Maki asked the group.

"Shuichi and Sharla prove that trap did not work, so Gonta will believe in Kaede!" The entomologist declared with complete sincerity.

"Well to be fair, it could've just been a fluke…" Kokichi said to his robotic opponent.

"How could it be a fluke when we tested it five times in a row?" Keebo retorted.

"Everyone please stop!" Kaede shouted in desperation. "I was the one who threw the murder weapon...I killed Rantaro...I'm the culprit!"

"No you're not!" I shouted back. "The real culprit is someone else and they're using you as a scapegoat!"

That was it. The one suggestion that could turn the case around; the one tiny step that could lead into a bigger leap into the unknown. I might not know the truth to the bigger mystery as of yet, but I was willing to do whatever it takes to get there and I knew I wouldn't be alone in this.

**"This is our answer!"** My group declared.

**"Please don't do this!"** Kaede quickly interrupted our momentum.

Me and the pianist were now at odds with each other.

"Someone else?" Kaede said in an offended tone. "If there was someone else, you would have shown proof already!"

"Kaede…" I sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Huh…?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't tell you sooner. All that guilt... all that sadness you built up inside yourself... It could've been prevented."

"You…" The blonde-haired girl began.

"What is it?" I responded.

"You...really do believe I'm not the culprit, do you?" The pianist genuinely asked.

"Of course I do." I answered. "And... I'm sorry you don't believe me."

"You're wrong." Kaede plainly said.

"I know." I said sadly. "It's only natural that you would think you were the one who-"

"That's not it."

"Huh..?" I questioned.

Kaede looked at me with tears starting to form in her eyes. "I want nothing more than to believe you. Every fiber of my being is telling me I need to. But...but I...can't help it...I just feel that…"

"Kaede... Kaede." I did my best to calm her down. "It's OK."

"...What?"

"It's going to be okay." I assured. "I'm here. You can trust me."

She seemed to realize something as tears started streaming down her face. "Sh-Sharla... please help me. I'm... I'm so scared..."

"It's going to be OK, Kaede." I assured once again. "Come at me with any concerns... any arguments... and I promise to refute everything."

_If Shuichi can refute arguments, then so can I._ I thought.

"OK... OK." Kaede did her best to compose herself as she prepared her rebuttal. "You say there's another culprit, but who could it be? The shot put ball was the murder weapon, so they would've had to know about my plan. Other than you and Shuichi, there was no one else who could've figured out my trap for the mastermind."

"While it's true I can't point out a specific person." I admitted. "Maybe there's a way I can prove that it's possible that another person could've killed Rantaro with a shot put ball."

"Then please tell me how." The pianist pleaded. "There's no other evidence that was left behind. Our cameras didn't catch anything or anyone out of place! **Everything, even the way Rantaro died, matches up with how I designed my deathtrap.**"

**"I'll cut through your words!"** I shouted.

"Sharla?" The blonde-haired girl looked at me with hope. Those were words she must've wanted to hear.

"It might be a minor detail but..." I started.

"Please, Sharla." Kaede said to me.

"You said the way Rantaro died matches up with your plans for your deathtrap, but I wonder if it was truly accurate." I wondered.

"What do you mean?" Tsumugi asked.

"I doubted about this because we got the photos late into the investigation." I said. "But take a look at the one **where Rantaro's looking directly into the flash.**"

"Mhmm, mhmm, I see." Kokichi followed my logic. "That would also had to have been the moment just before the supposed shot put fell on top of his head."

"That's it!" I quickly pointed at the supreme leader. "Say that again, Kokichi!"

The purple-haired boy tilted his head. "It would have to have been the moment the shot put fell on **top of his head**."

"Top of his head?" Kaede repeated. "But wait, the Monokuma File said that Rantaro was struck on the **back of his head**!"

"Exactly!" I agreed.

"Is that such an important point though?" Tsumugi questioned. "Gravity works in mysterious ways and Kaede's shot put could've fell on the back of Rantaro's head rather than the top of it."

Kiyo turned to the blue-haired cosplayer but remained silent.

"I placed the camera myself." Kaede explained. "I remembered not to place it too low or too high to make it seem less suspicious."

"And it's not as if the iron ball would come flying off the bookcase." Keebo said. "It would only make a simple drop."

"And look!" Angie followed as well. "The photo's showing Rantaro looking directly at the camera with his head straight forward! Also, I just love the composition of this photo! It gives off a nice eerie vibe that screams 'Someone's going to die'!"

"Someone did die…" Maki said flatly.

"But this should be enough, right Kaede?" Kaito turned to the pianist.

The blonde-haired girl stayed silent as she looked at me once again. I returned the gaze so she looked directly into my eyes.

**"I am not the culprit."** She said with newfound determination.


	11. Chapter 1: HCT, OCT - Part 9

"Hmm?" Kokichi leaned forward and hovered his hand behind his ear. "Do you mind repeating that, Kaede? I didn't catch that."

"I'm not the culprit!" Kaede spoke louder.

"K-Kaede?" Tsumugi looked concerned at her friend.

Tears still streamed from the pianist's eyes, but they weren't tears of sadness. Rather, they were tears of solace. "I take back my confession. I take back everything I've said because **I don't believe I'm the culprit anymore!**"

"YES!" Kaito shouted in triumphant relief.

The group that defended Kaede alongside me all made similar remarks of celebration.

"Hooray!" Angie cheered. "We did it!"

"Gonta did it…" The entomologist said to himself. "Gonta protected one of his friends…"

"Wait...what just happened?" Himiko looked around confused, having trouble keeping up with the events that unfolded.

Miu was having a similar experience. "Yeah, why the hell does Kaeidiot think she's innocent all of a sudden?"

"It must have something to do with Rantaro being struck on the back of the head rather than the top of his head." Keebo surmised, not quite sure of what was going on himself, but happy and relieved that Kaede considered herself to be innocent.

"That's right, Keebo." I confirmed. "Besides that it futher supports that Kaede's trap didn't work, what else would it suggest?"

"It would have to be the **method of murder**, correct?" The robot answered.

"All this time I was so sure that Rantaro died solely because of my trap." Kaede admitted. "But with the location of his wound, along with the photographs we received from the Monokubs, it doesn't add up. There's a possibility...that **someone else had the chance to kill Rantaro when my deathtrap failed.**"

"Wonderful, Kaede." Kiyo praised. "Such display of resolve is a welcome contrast to the person who just moments ago resigned herself to her demise. As an added bonus, now **the group that opposed us once before has lost a good portion of their credibility. Right, Tsumugi?**"

The cosplayer quickly turned to the anthropologist in surprise. "Huh? Me..?"

"You deserve your fair share of recognition." The long-haired boy explained. "After all, you spent a good effort defending Kaede in her decisions. Now you get to do so with the ease of knowing that she herself believes in her innocence. Isn't that just ideal?"

Tsumugi gave Kiyo a warm smile. "Of course it is. I'm so relieved that your group was able to prove Kaede innocent."

_**Is that sarcasm I hear in your voice, Tsumugi?**_ I thought.

"Kaede's innocence hasn't necessarily been proven without a doubt." Ryoma noted. "But, I can't in good faith, keep accusing her of being the blackened when she doesn't believe it herself anymore."

"Nyeh, I guess I'll keep going along with this trial, too." Himiko said.

"Himiko, I knew you'd come around eventually!" Tenko declared happily.

Miu sighed loudly. "Fiiiine, I guess I ain't gonna vote for Kaeidiot."

Maki remained silent and turned away in disinterest. "Do what you want."

"If this is the true desire of the group then I will cooperate as well." Kirumi said. "Shuichi, Sharla, allow me to apologize for not believing you."

"Ah, no that's quite alright." Shuichi said somewhat embarrassed.

"It's fine." I said.

"In any case, it's too early to celebrate." Kaito said. "We still need to get to the bottom of this whole thing."

"Kaito's right." Kaede agreed. "We're not in the clear just yet. Especially with Monokuma's time limit looming over our shoulders, we have to stay digilent."

"So what should we talk about now?" Gonta took it upon himself to ask the obvious question.

"Obviously the person who struck Rantaro in the back of the head!" Tenko said. "Alright, which one of you degenerates did it?"

"Hey!" Kaito shouted at the aikido master. "What makes you think it was a man who did this?"

"Hah!" The green-eyed girl scoffed. "Only a degenerate male would have the balls to frame Kaede for their murder."

_Balls?_ I thought.

"Oh I getcha!" Miu said. "With this we're able to rule out half the suspects! Good job, Tencrotch! You made this a hundred times easier for us!"

Tenko's face scrunched up in disgust. "I'm...not sure how I feel about that compliment...or that degenerate-like nickname."

"Well get used to it, because that's what I'm calling ya from now on!" The inventor happily stated.

"What makes you think the culprit tried to frame Kaede in the first place?" Ryoma asked.

"So what, you think it was just a happy coincidence that the culprit and Kaede both tried to kill Rantaro at the same time?" Kaito retorted.

"I'm saying maybe they didn't intentionally try to frame her at first, but then they saw her trap didn't work and decided to take an opportunity." The tennis pro explained his point in more detail.

"Oh ho!" Kokichi responded. "So now the question becomes whether this murder was premeditated or not."

"If the shot put ball is still indeed the murder weapon, then it would had to have been." Kirumi said.

_Shot put ball…_ I thought

"Unless that was just another 'happy coincidence'." Maki said sarcastically.

"But it just doesn't make sense…" Shuichi said aloud while deep in thought. "If the shot put ball was still the murder weapon, then the killer would've known about Kaede's plan from the start. They would've had to have been in **close proximity** in order to see that the trap didn't work and then kill Rantaro themselves."

_Close proximity…_

"Yeah, and unfortunately your cameras didn't really catch anything out of the ordinary other than Rantaro." Kaito pointed out.

"_My_ cameras, first off." Miu said. "And may I remind you, they go off on a thirty second pause timer after each shot they take. So maybe it was during one of those times the killer made their move!"

"In that case, where the hell did the killer run off to?" Kaito genuinely asked. "Tenko and I were right outside the library when the whole thing happened."

"And the photos showed everyone running into the library when the body discovery announcement went off." Ryoma said. "So the killer didn't hide in there to begin with."

"So the cameras didn't show anyone exiting from either the front or rear entrances." Keebo thought aloud. "That would suggest that the only location the killer could've left the library from was-"

**"The hidden door."** I finished.

Shuichi looked at me with a surprised look on his face. "The hidden door?"

"We've already proved that the killer couldn't use any other entrance that lead in and out of the library." I explained. "So, using the process of elimination, the hidden door was the only way the killer could leave the library. There's also the **missing shot put ball**."

"Missing shot put ball?" Himiko repeated.

"Specifically **my shot put ball**." Kaede explained. "Shuichi, Sharla, and Keebo kept saying this whole time my shot put missed. If that's the case, then why did we discover a **bloody shot put ball** at the crime scene?"

"A fabrication created by the culprit." Kiyo surmised. "Are you suggesting the killer used **their own shot put ball** to kill Rantaro?"

"Or maybe they used a different weapon, and just smeared Kaede's shot put with blood to make it seem like it was the murder weapon!" Angie theorized.

"Either way, whether it was another shot put or a different weapon all together, the point is that item is missing from the crime scene." I explained further.

"I see." Kirumi said. "And the only way for the killer to remove said weapon from the crime scene was to use the room inside the hidden door, is that what you're saying?"

"Is that even possible, though?" Shuichi questioned. **"The dust I left on the card reader suggested that it was unused before and after the crime occured."**

"Shuichi... I'm gonna say something you might think is crazy." I warned. **"What if the killer was already inside the hidden door when the murder happened?"**

"Huh?" The detective was taken aback by my statement.

"Hmm." Kiyo said inquisitively. "An intresting point. If I may ask, what exactly are you basing this theory off of?"

"Other that it's the only explanation?" I said half-sarcastically, trying not to offend the anthropologist. "That's also a way for the killer to get the drop on Rantaro."

"Oh I see!" Angie said. "Rantaro was hit on the back of the head, so the killer must've sneaked up on him somehow."

"And like I said before, me and Tenko were right in front of the library, so no way did anyone enter or exit from there." Kaito added.

"But that begs the question." Kirumi said. "How did the killer get on the other side of the hidden door without entering it from the library?"

"I…" I tried to come up with an explanation, but couldn't find one and looked down dejectedly. "I don't know the answer to that…"

"I do." Shuichi suddenly said.

Everyone turned to the detective.

"And it's an answer that I can't believe I didn't consider until now." He continued.

"Hey, join the club." Kokichi said, looking just as dejected as I did a moment ago. "I can't believe I didn't think of that either, especially since I'm the Ultimate Supreme Leader."

"Huh?" Himiko wondered. "Are those two on some kind of magical wavelength?"

"Shuichi." Kaede said to the detective. "What's on your mind?"

"Based on what has been said in regards to that hidden door." The hatless boy began. "There's a high possibility that **the library isn't the only entranceway to the hidden room.**"

"Huh?" Tenko questioned. "So you're saying there's more than one way to get into that room besides the door in the library?"

"Yes." The detective answered.

"Of course!" Kaede came to a realization herself. "This academy was constructed specifically for this killing game! It would only make sense for there to be more than one way to get to that hidden room. After all the mastermind would need to-"

"Mastermind?" Monokuma suddenly parroted. "Are you still going on about a 'mastermind'?"

"It's the only explanation!" The pianist argued. "The only explanation for why the true culprit knew about my trap, for them to use the hidden room to kill Rantaro and sneak out of the library undetected. These are the actions of someone who knows a little too much about the structure of this academy. In other words, they must be the mastermind!"

"Mastermind this, mastermind that!" The twisted bear taunted. "Are you sure you're the Ultimate Pianist, cause you're playing the same tune! It's getting awfully **boring**."

"B-Boring..?" Tsumugi said warily. "D-Does that mean-"

"Look alive, everyone, because we're back to **seventy-five percent**!" Monokuma shouted. "Maybe that was a poor choice of words…"

"Not good." Ryoma observed. "He added another ten percent out of a mere suggestion."

"That just means he's scared cause we're getting closer to the truth!" Kaito said confidently.

"That must be it!" I exclaimed. "Monokuma's only threatening us because **we're getting closer to the mastermind's identity and therefore one of the traitors!** In that case, I agree with Shuichi's theory that there's more than one way to the hidden room."

"I agree too!" Kaede agreed.

"Don't get me wrong, I agree with Shuichi, too." Keebo said. "But how are we supposed to find the location of these other hidden passageways?"

"The academy's super huge!" Angie added. "There could be passageways everywhere!"

"We're going about this the wrong way." Kirumi suggested. "Rather than going by the academy itself, there's an alternate method of determining where the other hidden entrance was used."

"I agree." Kiyo said. "We'll have a much easier time finding this other passageway if we simply **analyze everyone's actions at the time of the murder**."

"Oh I get it!" Kokichi remarked. "If we just go over everyone's alibis again, then we'll see who had a chance to use another hidden passageway to get to the library and kill Rantaro!"

"In that case, we should probably go over those who don't have airtight alibis." Tsumugi suggested.

"That would be **Ryoma, Keebo, and Kokichi**, right?" Tenko recalled.

"Uh-oh, Keeboy." The supreme leader said. "Looks like in our quest to prove Kaede's innocence, we ended up being suspicious!"

"No, that's wrong." Shuichi said. "The very fact that you two helped me and Sharla, supports that neither of you are the culprit."

"Otherwise, they would have just let me take the blame." Kaede finished.

"But didn't Kokichi try to lie his way out of proving Kaede's innocence?" Tsumugi questioned. "I remember he denied any testimony that said he helped Keebo, Shuichi, and Sharla."

Kokichi suddenly sniffled in sadness. "That's a little mean, Tsumugi...I already told you that I just didn't want to get bullied…"

"Even if Kokichi did lie about not helping the three of us." I explained. "It doesn't change the fact that he did end up helping us by rolling the shot put ball from Classroom A."

"He even seemed to go out of his way to further help in the experiment by bringing in multiple shot put balls." Kiyo observed.

"At any point, he could've just not followed Sharla's orders." Kirumi also added. "The fact that he cooperated with her and Shuichi in the end suggests that he was willing to find the truth as well."

"And those don't seem like the actions the true culprit would make." Kaede said. "If anything, they would go out of their way to hinder Shuichi and Sharla's test."

"So then, if culprit not Kokichi...and culprit not Keebo." Gonta put the pieces together in his head. "Then does that mean Ryoma is culprit?"

Ryoma's podium then positioned itself to the center of the circle as all eyes now gazed upon him.

"Huh, I suppose given my reputation, this was inevitable." The former convict said plainly.

Tenko took a defensive stance. "So, Ryoma, what do you have to say for yourself?"

"Hold on." I halted the discussion. "Are we sure Ryoma's capable of killing Rantaro?"

The aikido master looked confused at me. "What are you saying, Sharla? This degenerate went to jail for murder!"

"That's true but that's not what I meant." I explained. "Ryoma was supposed to be in his room at the time of the murder, right? If he really was the culprit, then there should be a hidden entrance in his room."

"Makes sense." Maki noted. "Want to have a passageway that leads all over the academy without anyone else knowing? Just put it in your room where no one but you can enter."

Shuichi saw the logic of the theory, but remained skeptical. "But even if there was a hidden entrance in his room, it would still be a considerable distance going from there all the way to the library."

"Ryoma's the Ultimate Tennis Pro, isn't he?" Angie pointed out. "I bet he would be able to run that distance quite easily if he wanted."

"Just because he's a tennis pro doesn't mean he's a professional sprinter!" Kaito replied. "Even if he can run fast it's just too great a distance to get from the dorms to the library and vice versa, secret passage or no!"

"Was Ryoma even in his room at the time of the murder?" Himiko asked.

"That's what he told me." Keebo answered. "But I will admit, that doesn't count for much as an alibi."

Ryoma chuckled.

"Something amusing, Ryoma?" Kiyo questioned.

The tennis pro shook his head. "I just find it funny how things seem to find a way of working themselves out."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Maki questioned as well.

"It just so happens I'm able to provide at least **some evidence that I was in my room**." Ryoma responded.

"You are?" Tsumugi asked.

"Indeed, Ryoma." Kirumi said with a smile. "Who would've thought that Shuichi and Sharla kicking us out of the library would become a blessing in disguise."

"Huh?" Shuichi reacted to his namedrop.

"Kirumi." Kaede turned to the maid. "Are you saying you're able to support Ryoma's alibi?"

"While I'm not certain if he was in his room at the time of the murder." The maid began. "I can certainly answer whether or not a secret passage was located in that area."

"Oh yeah?" Kaito questioned. "How so?"

"Because I cleaned it." Kirumi plainly stated.

"Hang on a minute!" Miu exclaimed. "Since when are you allowed in our rooms, Ms. Walking Fetish?"

"Normally never unless it's for a specific request." The maid explained. "But in this case, it was when I decided to check on Ryoma who went back to his room after he left the library during the investigation."

Ryoma nodded his head as if to corroborate her statement. "Since I wasn't allowed to investigate in the library anymore, I decided to check back in my room and see if I could find something in there that proves my alibi. It wasn't long after that that Kirumi knocked on my door."

"When I looked into his room, I saw that it was a complete mess." Kirumi added. "And I took it upon myself to clean the place up."

"Heh." The tennis pro gave a soft chuckle again. "Back in prison, I usually had to be so neat and tidy when it came to my cell, so here in this academy it was a breath of fresh air that I didn't have to worry about that stuff."

"OK, so you cleaned a messy room." Miu summarized. "How exactly does that prove there was no secret passage in there?"

"Do not underestimate my **Ultimate** talent." Kirumi stated calmly. "I am very thorough when it comes to my duty as a maid."

"You can say that again." Ryoma agreed. "She left no stone unturned when cleaning my room."

"Believe me, if there was a hidden passageway in Ryoma's room, I would've found it." The maid concluded.

"Okay, then maybe the hidden entrance was located somewhere outside the dorms." Tenko suggested. "Maybe even the lobby!"

"No way would the mastermind put a hidden entrance someplace so obvious!" Kaito countered. "They wouldn't risk the chance of other people accidentally stumbling across it!"

"So I guess that rules Ryoma out as a potential suspect…" Keebo stated.

The tennis pro stared wistfully off to the side. "Hmph, didn't expect luck to end up being on my side. It's a nice change of pace..."

"Welp, who's next?" Kokichi said nonchalantly.

"Won't be long now." Tenko started to pump herself up. "We're getting closer to the true culprit, I can feel it."

"Tenko's right." I acknowledged. "All that's needed now is going around this room and see whose alibi doesn't match up with the new information we gotten."

"Oh no…" Tsumugi audibly muttered.

The rest of the students slowly turned to the cosplayer who now had a rather distressed look on her face.

"No...oh no no no…" She continued to mutter.

"T...Tsumugi?" Kaede addressed her friend warily. "Are you...okay?"

The blue-haired cosplayer suddenly turned to the pianist, as if she was shocked by the girl talking to her. "Huh!? Oh! Oh it's nothing!"

"Nothing?" Kiyo repeated. "My poor dear, that look on your face displays the complete opposite of 'nothing'."

"I-I'm telling you it's nothing!" Tsumugi stuttered as she started to get more flustered.

"Hey, if ya got something to say then say it already!" Miu shouted at the blue-haired girl.

"C-C'mon, Tsumugi." Kaede said half-jokingly. "You're starting to scare me, here."

The cosplayer gave no reply to the pianist.

_**I remember now! Tsumugi is...**__ Is she gonna..? If so, __**is she gonna accuse..?**_ I thought in worry.

"Tsumugi Shirogane." Kiyo suddenly stated in a slow and ominous tone. "Unfortunately we are pressed for time in this class trial, so as much as we would love for you to cope with whatever's on your mind, I'm afraid we cannot allow that."

Tsumugi hesitantly turned to the anthropologist.

**"Speak. Your. Mind."** He slowly commanded.

"...Very well." The cosplayer spoke softly. "I suppose I couldn't keep this to myself for any longer..."

"Wait, Tsumugi." Kaede tried to process what was happening before her. "Y-You're not suggestinf that y-"

**"Gonta."** The blue-haired girl suddenly said. **"Why do you look the most suspicious now?"**

A silence filled the courtroom, not unlike the first time me and Shuichi first tried to prove Kaede's innocence. As if, once again, all of us needed time to process the words they just heard.

"Huh?" Gonta was understandably the first to react. "M-Me?"

"W-Wait!" Kaede shouted unintentionally. "Why do you suspect Gonta?!"

Kiyo, who before stared at the cosplayer with intensity, slowly returned to his calm normal demeanor. "Interesting. Please elaborate, if you would, Tsumugi."

"We're suspecting people who had a chance of using an alternate hidden passageway to get to the library, correct?" The cosplayer explained. **"Gonta locked himself in the A/V room at the time of the murder."**

"Ah!" Kirumi suddenly realized the blue-haired girl's point. "So you're saying that was when..?"

"What?" Gonta questioned. "What Tsumugi saying?! W-Why is Gonta being suspected again?!"

"Yeah!" Kaito supported. "I thought we ruled out Gonta couldn't have killed Rantaro from the A/V room!"

"From the A/V room, sure." Tsumugi answered. **"But what if there's a hidden passageway in the A/V room?"**

"I see." Maki replied. "The A/V room and library are next to each other, so it would allow easy access to and from both rooms."

"And since they're next to each other, it would allow Gonta to keep an eye on whatever's happening in the library!" Kokichi added.

"There's also the fact that Gonta locked the door to the A/V room." Himiko also added. "That's definitely suspicious…"

"Gonta only lock door because Gonta needed to focus!" The entomologist tried desperately to defend himself. "Gonta went to A/V room because Gonta needed to watch bug movie to fill Gonta with fight!"

"Gonta..." Tsumugi muttered. "That's not gonna work anymore."

"But it true!" The greenish-brown-haired boy shouted.

"Hold on a second, guys!" I tried to calm everyone of their suspicions. "It's too early to decide if Gonta is really the culprit!"

"Sharla, you have to admit that Gonta's looking pretty suspect right now, riiight?" Kokichi asked me. "Look, even Shuichi's having his doubts!"

I quickly turned to the detective noticed that he was looking at Gonta and I started to sweat with uncertainty.

"Shuichi." I said to him. "Do you really think..?"

The hatless boy looked back at me. "We... we can't ignore this information."

I looked around at the others and noticed their suspicions were growing as well.

"Sharla!" Gonta cried out to me.

"Huh?!" I responded in surprise.

"You no think Gonta is culprit, right?!" He spoke in desperation. "Gonta would never kill Rantaro! Gonta only want to protect friends!"

I was hesitant to answer the entomologist. If Kaede wasn't the true culprit of this case, that only means someone else had to be. Was Gonta's 'Gentle Giant' persona all an elaborate act and he was the mastermind? Besides, I have to confront the truth no matter how painful and frightening it was.

_It can't be... Is Gonta really the true culprit?_ I thought.

Monokuma sighed. "We're suspecting Gonta again? Plus five percent for unoriginality."

Monokid gasped. "But that means we're already at one hundred percent!"

"Do you even know how math works!?" Monosuke shouted. "We're at **eighty percent** now!"

"Oh my." Monophanie said. "**Everyone better hurry and find the blackened or else this trial room's going to be stained with everyone's blood.** Just thinking about that makes me...makes me...BLRBLRBLRBLRBLRB!"

The pink bear proceeded to vomit where she was standing.

"Monokuma just changed the time limit again." Himiko said. "Does that mean we're right and Gonta's the mastermind?"

"G-Gonta no mastermind!" The newly accused denied.

"Don't lie to us." The mage pointed her finger at the entomologist. "Or else I'll use my magic to take away your muscles."

"Gonta no can be Skinny-Gonta! How else can Gonta use muscles to protect friends?"

"C'mon, let's just start the voting already!" Kokichi whined. "Gonta is definitely the most suspicious one right now, so he's gotta be the culprit, right?"

"Hold on." Kaede interjected. "First off, we don't have any proof that there is a passageway in the A/V room."

"Well you don't have any proof that there isn't one, do you?" Maki countered.

"Which leads me to my second point." The pianist said. "Me and Shuichi checked every inch of that room during the investigation, so the two of us would've found something related to a secret passageway."

"And not just them." Kaito added. "Me and Himiko were there too, so you had four set of eyes looking around in that room for anything suspicious."

"But Gonta was there too, wasn't he?" Himiko questioned. "Maybe he wanted to keep an eye on us in case we found the hidden passageway in that room?"

"He really didn't do anything to hinder our investigation, though." Kaede pointed out.

"Maybe it's because he knew you guys wouldn't find anything." Ryoma replied.

"Wouldn't find anything?" Kaito repeated. "We had the Ultimate Detective with us. I really doubt Shuichi of all people would've missed anything in the A/V room."

"That's right!" Kaede agreed. "Shuichi found the hidden door in the library, so of course he would've found a hidden passageway in the A/V room, if there was one."

"I guess Shuichi did also discover your trap and proved you were innocent." Tsumugi also pointed out. "Gee, Shuichi, you've become so reliable, I'm sure we'll discover the truth to this in no time."

Shuichi started to become nervous as the pressure seemed to get to him.

"Y...You all give me too much credit." The detective said.

"Huh?" I questioned.

"We-" The hatless boy stopped himself before continuing. "I can't be sure if I properly checked the A/V room for hidden passageways. There's a chance I could've missed something."

"Shuichi…" I lamented the detective's uncertainty.

"C'mon, Shuichi, don't be like that." Kaito tried his best to motivate him. "Kirumi's confident that there wasn't a hidden passageway in Ryoma's room, so you should have faith in yourself that you did all you could to search that A/V room."

"It's not that." Shuichi denied. "I don't want to make any promises I can't keep. If there's even a small chance that I missed the hidden passageway in that room, then I won't deny the possibility that there is one in there."

"Good for you, Shuichi!" Kokichi playfully encouraged. "Not leaving things to chance and using good ol' logic to solve this case. That's wayyyy better than just having some blind faith!"

"You tryin' to say something?" Kaito took offense to the supreme leader's words.

"It's OK, Kaito." I assured. "We'll prove Gonta innocent some other way."

Despite my words, I was worried. Time was running out and the entomologist was the closest thing we had for a suspect.

I listened to the non-stop debate and heard Tsumugi say the contradiction I was looking for.

"That means you all must've **barely missed him as he re-entered the hidden door.**"

_I hope Kaede knows what she's gonna do._ I thought to myself. _**She'll turn this lie... into the truth!**_

"Gonta can't be the culprit!" Kaede spoke aloud.

"What?!" Tsumugi's voice nearly cracked. "I mean...what do you mean?"

"Because I saw him the A/V room before I rushed into the library!" The pianist revealed.

What happened afterwards caused an argument between Kaede and Kokichi. Eventually, we confirmed that Gonta was in the A/V room watching his bug movie. I found the fact that me, Shuichi, Kaede, Kaito, and Tenko charged through the front door in the library hilarious when Kokichi brought it up.

"Gah!" Kaito said in frustration in the aftermath of that conversation. "So I make one suggestion and suddenly I'm a big idiot? Let's see you guys come up with the hard decisions after this!"

_Then again, this for the sake of Gonta's innocence so you're gonna have bear with it, Kaito._ I thought.

"So did all that really happen?" Himiko asked.

"At this point, we should assume so." Kiyo said. "All four of them witnessed Gonta in the A/V room which means he wasn't in the library killing Rantaro."

"Maybe he already killed him by then?" Tsumugi suggested.

The anthropologist wagged his finger in disagreement. "There wouldn't have been enough time for him to murder Rantaro, organize the crime scene, and go back to the A/V room like nothing's happened."

"So then…that means Gonta isn't the culprit!" Angie concluded. "Good for you, Gonta!"

"Gonta happy friends manage to prove Gonta innocent again." The entomologist gave us a gentlemanly smile. "But...did Gonta really not notice when friends peeked into room?"

"Who cares about that?" Kokichi dismissed. "So who's next on the chopping block?"

"Whoever it is, it better be a good one!" Monokuma said. "Cause I'm at **eighty-five perceeeeent**!"

"E-Eighty-five percent, now!?" Tsumugi exclaimed.

"Then let's not delay." Kiyo advised. "If I may, I'd like to provide a suggestion on who to suspect next."

"Actually, Kiyo, if _I_ may." I interrupted. **"I have my own suggestion too."**

The anthropologist looked at me and noticed my tense look. "Very well. I'll leave this to you."

I recapped the information in my mind. _If it's not Gonta... if it's not Keebo, Ryoma, or Kokichi... then there's someone else here who had the chance to use a hidden passageway without anyone noticing. Also... they've been acting weird during this class trial and I can't just stand here and ignore that. I didn't want to suspect them... but I'm left with no choice now that I remember who they really are._

I spoke aloud. "I suspect-"

"Sharla." Tsumugi cut off me. "Might I say something real quick?"

"...What is it?" I asked.

"I just wanted to say..." The cosplayer began. "That I'm so glad you made it this far in the class trial."

I didn't say a thing.

"I was so worried that we would end up losing Kaede." The blue-haired girl continued as soft tears formed on the edges of her eyes. "I couldn't bear the thought of her dying, so... I'm really happy that you're here right now with all of us. Let's escape this killing game together, Sharla, and after that... we'll become friends. Maybe... maybe even best friends..."

A brief silence filled the room, but was then broken by the sound of laughter. It wasn't a loud laughter, however, it was quiet and dignified. It neither increased in volume nor did it quiet down in silence. Tsumugi looked to her right and noticed it was Kiyo who was the source of that laughter.

I looked at the anthropologist as he seemed to be beside himself. Though his mask covered most of his face, he still covered his mouth with his hand, as if he needed the extra support to contain his amused state.

To the others, this seemed like a uncharacteristic outburst from the usually stoic anthropologist.

To me, however, this was all the confirmation I needed.

**"Tsumugi."** I pointed at the blue-haired girl. **"I suspect you."**


	12. Chapter 1: HCT, OCT - Part 10

The blue-haired cosplayer held a neutral expression on her face as she stared at me. Seconds passed by and Tsumugi continued to give no response. I did not waver, however. I was willing to wait for eternity if needed for the other girl to say something... do something... give any sort of reaction to my accusation.

Nearly a full minute passed and Tsumugi finally gave a response. She raised her finger and looked upwards towards the ceiling, as if a light bulb shined above her head.

"Oh, I see what you mean!" The cosplayer spoke at last.

"You... see?" Tenko repeated.

"So you're not objecting to Sharla's accusation?" Kiyo immediately asked.

"I'm saying I understand where her accusation is coming from." Tsumugi answered. "It's because I went to the **girls bathroom** at the time of the murder, right Sharla?"

"The girls bathroom?" Shuichi wondered.

"...That's exactly right." I confirmed.

The cosplayer smiled. "Aww, good for you, Sharla. Covering all your bases so that we can get one step closer to the truth. Well then! You'll be happy to know that I can't be the culprit!"

"Why not?" I asked.

"Hmm?" The blue-haired girl tilted her head in confusion. "Didn't we establish already that the mastermind wouldn't put secret passageways in anyplace obvious? If I were the mastermind, I certainly wouldn't put such a thing in a place where half of the people here would frequently go to."

"E-Even so." Kaede replied. "Like we did with Gonta, we should look into this theory and determine whether or not-"

"Then let me ask you, Kaede." The cosplayer cut her off. "Since my word wouldn't mean much in this situation, did _you_ notice any hidden passageways in the girls bathroom when you went in?"

"Tsumugi, that's not fair." The pianist said, becoming more distressed as the discussion progressed. "At the time, I wouldn't have known-"

**"Did you notice any hidden passageways in the girls bathroom when you went in?"** Tsumugi asked again, interrupting Kaede for the second time, her tone as innocent as ever.

The blonde-haired girl decided to comply and gave her a straight answer. "N-No, I didn't. But that doesn't mean there couldn't have been-"

And a third time. "What about the rest of you ladies? You all went into that bathroom at least once, right? Did any of you see any sign of a hidden passageway in there?"

The female students of the academy each took a turn to answer Tsumugi's question.

"I went to the bathroom lotsa times." Himiko answered. "But I didn't see any hidden passageways."

"Me neither!" Angie gave her reply.

"I didn't see nothin'!" Miu stated.

"Unfortunately, I didn't see any sign of a hidden passageway in the girls restroom." Kirumi lamented.

"No." Maki said in her usual straightforward manner.

"S-Sorry, Sharla, but I didn't find a hidden passageway either." Tenko apologized.

"Nope, didn't see one either!" Kokichi said.

"Wh-Why are YOU talking?!" The aikido master exclaimed.

"As you can plainly see, Sharla, it seems very unlikely for a hidden passageway to be in the girls bathroom." Tsumugi concluded.

"Tsumugi…" I did my best to approach the situation as cautiously as possible. "I understand how quickly you want to prove your innocence, but we shouldn't just dismiss this theory right off the bat like that."

"That's easy for you to say." The cosplayer retorted. "Your friend's no longer being suspected of murder."

"That only means I sympathize even more with what you're going through." I replied. "But in order for us to prove your innocence, we need to get to the bottom of this 'hidden passageway in the girls bathroom' scenario."

"What's there to get to the bottom of?" The blue-haired girl asked. "Everyone already said they didn't see any evidence suggesting there's a hidden passageway in there."

"Hold on a second." Shuichi interrupted the conversation. "While it may be true that all the girls here went to the bathroom at some point during our time in this academy, **there's still a possibility that a hidden passageway could be located in there**."

"What do you mean, Shuichi?" Kirumi asked.

The detective gave his explanation. "Let's assume for a moment that there is a hidden passageway in the girls bathroom."

Tsumugi raised her hand. "I object to this line of conversation."

"Now, now." Kiyo raised his hand only slightly, to calm the blue-haired girl down. "This is merely a theory. Let Shuichi finish before we determine the actual accuracy of it, shall we?"

"I... I just don't understand why we still need to talk about this." The cosplayer replied.

The anthropologist chuckled. "Relax, my dear. If you truly are innocent, then you have nothing to worry about."

After a small nod from Kiyo, Shuichi took it as a sign to continue his explanation. "Going by the assumption I previously stated, if there was a hidden passageway in the girls bathroom, where would it logically be?"

"Where would it be?" Keebo repeated to himself.

"Well I'll tell ya where it wouldn't be." Miu cut in. "Any of the bathroom stalls."

"Exactly." Shuichi agreed.

"But... isn't that all that's there in the bathrooms?" Keebo questioned. "If it wouldn't be in any of the stalls, then where else would a hidden passageway be?"

Shuichi thought to himself for a moment and then looked to a certain pianist. "Kaede, mind if I ask for your assistance?"

"Huh?" Kaede replied. "Oh, of course not, Shuichi. What's up?"

"I was wondering if you can give us your input." The detective said. "Specifically, besides the stalls, what else is in the girls bathroom?"

"All right, Shuichi!" Kokichi suddenly blurted out.

"H-Huh?" The hatless boy questioned in surprise.

"Welp, you heard the man, ladies!" The supreme leader eagerly shouted. "Time to reveal the age-old question that's been on the mind of men since they were boys: 'What is in the girls bathroom?'"

"Ugh!" Tenko exclaimed in disgust. "Is that really what you degenerates like to think about?"

"C'mooooooon!" The purple-haired boy pleaded. "This is arguably the biggest mystery that we males have been trying to solve since ancient times! Though, I guess for me personally, I don't need to know the answer to that."

"Please stop talking." The aikido master said simply.

Kirumi looked to the sky wistfully. "It takes so much to be a man…"

"Gonta always thought that there were dispensers that gave out cookies, and the sinks shot out rainbows!" The entomologist happily gave out his remark.

"I... I'll admit, I'm also a bit... curious as to what's in the girls bathroom…" Kaito hesitantly said.

A certain caretaker could only facepalm in response.

"Um...all that aside, is there anything else in the girls bathroom that could hide a hidden passageway, Kaede?" Shuichi I'll tell ya where it wouldn't be," Miu cut in. "Any of the bathroom stalls."

"Exactly," agreed Shuichi.

"But...isn't that all that's there in the bathrooms?" Keebo questioned. "If it wouldn't be in any of the stalls, then where else would a hidden passageway be?"

Shuichi thought to himself for a moment and then looked to a certain pianist, "Kaede, mind if I ask for your assistance?"

"Huh?" Kaede replied. "Oh, of course not, Shuichi. What's up?"

"I was wondering if you can give us your input," said the detective. "Specifically, besides the stalls, what else is in the girls bathroom?"

"All right, Shuichi!" Kokichi suddenly blurted out.

"H-Huh?" Shuichi questioned in surprise.

"Welp, you heard the man, ladies!" the supreme leader eagerly shouted. "Time to reveal the age-old question that's been on the mind of men since they were boys:'What is in the girls bathroom?'"

"Ugh!" Tenko exclaimed in disgust. "Is that really what you degenerates like to think about?"

"C'mooooooon!" Kokichi pleaded. "This is arguably the biggest mystery that we males have been trying to solve since ancient times! Though, I guess for me personally, I don't need to know the answer to that."

"Please stop talking," the aikido master said simply.

Kirumi looked to the sky wistfully, "It takes so much to be a man…"

"Gonta always thought that there were dispensers that gave out cookies, and the sinks shot out rainbows!" the entomologist happily gave out his remark.

"I...I'll admit, I'm also a bit...curious as to what's in the girls bathroom…" Kaito hesitantly said.

A certain caretaker could only facepalm in response.

"Um...all that aside, is there anything else in the girls bathroom that could hide a hidden passageway, Kaede?" Shuichi asked.

"Besides the cookie dispensers and the rainbow sinks?" The pianist said jokingly. "Let me think."

She thought about it for a moment and after some time she came to a conclusion.

**"The utility closet."** She finally said.

"Utility closet?" Shuichi repeated.

"I think I get what she means!" I exclaimed. "Girls, did any of you, at any point, check the utility closet in the girls bathroom?"

Similar to when they first answered Tsumugi, the other female students each took a turn to answer my question.

"Huh, I went to the bathroom lotsa times, but I guess I never did look inside that utility closet." Himiko spoke first.

"Me neither!" Angie gave her reply.

"I had no reason to, so why would I?" Miu stated.

"Surprisingly, though I did glance inside the closet for a brief second, I didn't investigate it thoroughly." Kirumi lamented.

"No." Maki said again in her straightforward manner.

"I didn't check the utility closet either." Tenko said.

"What a coincidence, neither did I!" Kokichi responded.

"Didn't I tell you to stop talking?!" The aikido master exclaimed.

"And I didn't check it, either." Kaede gave her reply.

"So you and Sharla are saying there's a chance that a hidden passageway could be in that utility closet?" Ryoma questioned.

"Yes, we are." The pianist confirmed.

"But that's just a possibility right?" Tsumugi was quick to ask. "There's no proof that there's a hidden passageway in the-"

"And there's no proof to the inverse as well." Kiyo quickly stated. "But the fact remains that this possibility is starting to become the only explanation."

"The only explanation?" The cosplayer said in disbelief. "All I did was go to the bathroom at an unfortunate time!"

Maki scoffed. "So you're really playing this off as a coincidence?"

"Yes, and it's one of the worst ones I've had the displeasure of experiencing." The blue-haired girl responded. "You gotta believe me, I'm not the culprit!"

"Me and Kaede want nothing more than to believe you, Tsumugi." I said. "That's why I want to hear your agrument."

"Argument..?" Tsumugi echoed.

"Tell us why can't you be the true culprit." I clarified. "Once you do, we'll move on and become one step closer to the truth."

"You say that, but how am I supposed to defend myself here?" The blue-haired girl started to tremble. "All I can say is that I went in and out of the bathroom…"

"If you want, we can change the topic away from the bathroom." Kiyo offered.

"H-Huh?" The girl in question wondered.

"Kiyo, what are you..?" Kaede wondered as well.

"For you see, **Tsumugi's outing to the girls restroom is merely a piece of the grander puzzle of her suspicion.**" The anthropologist answered.

"Wh-wha!?" Tsumugi exclaimed.

"Oh-ho!" Kokichi chortled. "So you're saying there's more evidence that supports Tsumugi being the real culprit other than our girls bathroom theory?"

"Indeed." Kiyo gave a small nod in agreement.

"Wait, hang on a minute, please!" Tsumugi shouted. "I didn't do anything else suspicious during the time of the murder!"

The anthropologist silently chuckled. "Not during the murder, perhaps. That still doesn't explain **your actions during this class trial.**"

"During this class trial?" Kaede questioned.

"I... have no idea what you're talking about." Tsumugi denied the long-haired boy's accusations.

"I figured that would be your response." Kiyo anticipated. "So I'll just ask the rest of our associates: When Shuichi and Sharla first made their claim that Kaede wasn't the actual culprit, who was the first of us to react?"

"If I recall correctly." Kirumi muttered. "That would be Tsumugi."

"Th-That means nothing!" Tsumugi quickly rejected.

"Very well, then another one." Kiyo countered. "Who out of all of us was adamant that Kaede's the culprit and tried to convince everyone that it was her?"

"Kokichi!" The cosplayer pointed at the supreme leader. "It was Kokichi who went against Shuichi, Keebo, and Sharla to convince us that Kaede did it, right?"

Kokichi gasped. "My god, Tsumugi, you're… you're…"

He flashed his sinister smile. "You're getting desperate, aren't you?"

"No!" The blue-haired girl shouted. "You're the one who's the most suspicious here!"

"Actually, Tsumugi, you're the one who's the most suspicious." I said.

"Wh-Why!?" The cosplayer questioned.

"Because…" I thought back to a moment in time. "Because your words still ring in my ears… And I remember who you really are..."

_**...**_

_**"Shuichi, that's enough!"**_

_**I looked at the source of the voice and was surprised that it came from Tsumugi just as much as Shuichi was when he looked at her.**_

_**The cosplayer smiled wistfully as she continued. "I know how you feel, Shuichi...I really do. Up to this point, I had grown close with Kaede. The two of us shared some pretty good memories. I don't want her to die...in fact, had you not tried to convince us she wasn't the culprit a moment ago, I probably would've spoken out as well...and try to come up with an excuse why she couldn't have done it."**_

_**...**_

_**"But that's not what she wants!" The blue-haired girl exclaimed, now with tears streaming from her eyes. "She did what she did for all of us, and the least we can do is not have her suffer anymore! Let's end this trial... for her sake... OK, Shuichi?"**_

_**...**_

"You... what..?" Tsumugi muttered in confusion.

**"You're one of the five traitors!"** I shouted.

"You remember that now?!" Miu yelled in shock.

"Monokuma wasn't kidding when he said that Sharla's memory of the traitors was gonna grow less fuzzy." Kaito muttered.

"I... I..." The cosplayer couldn't get her words out.

"You..." Kaede addressed the blue-haired girl with a serious tone.

Tsumugi didn't flinch from her position as the other students looked at the pianist.

"You... framed me." She continued with tears forming in her eyes. "I felt so much guilt for such a long time... and it was really you all along. How... How could you!? I thought we were friends, Tsumugi!"

"...Friends…?" Tsumugi muttered. "Why...in the world...would I be friends..."

The blonde-haired girl said nothing and waited for the girl to finish her statement.

The cosplayer lifted her head to reveal the tears streaming from her eyes. "...with someone who doesn't believe in me?"

"H-Huh?" Kaede reeled back at Tsumugi's unexpected response.

"K-Kaede, please!" The girl pleaded. "Please help me! I... I don't know what to do!"

Ryoma shook his head in disgust. "Even now, she's still denying her guilt."

"Well she can deny all she wants." Kokichi said. "We vote the guilty by majority, anyway, so there's no need for us to continue this further."

"Speaking of which." Keebo said. "Monokuma, what percentage are you at currently?"

"Keebo you get an A- for that question." The bear responded. "Cause I'm at **ninety percent**! ...Get it? 'A-'? 'Ninety'?"

"Phew!" Kokichi said in relief. "Looks like we made it with time to spare!"

"I... suppose that's that." Shuichi concluded. "Monokuma, it looks like we're ready to-"

"I can prove it!" Tsumugi suddenly yelled.

Everyone looked at the cosplayer.

"You can what?" Keebo asked.

"I can prove it!" The blue-haired girl said again. "I can prove I can't be the true culprit!"

Kiyo narrowed his eyes. "How?"

**"Because Kaede and Sharla saw me leave the girls bathroom!"** The cosplayer declared. "Right, Kaede?"

Kaede's eyes widened. "Wh…"

The pianist wouldn't be able to finish her statement as the others gave their own responses of disbelief.

"What are you saying?" Shuichi asked in shock.

Miu growled loudly, upset once again that another one of her associates had apparently kept silent of such an important detail of the case.

"When was this?" Kirumi asked. "When did Kaede get the chance to witness you?"

"There was a moment, wasn't there!?" Tsumugi yelled. "A moment where Kaede and Sharla was left all alone in Classroom A! And during that time, they decided to come down and use the restroom! That's when we bumped into each other!"

_I don't remember that! She wants me and Kaede to lie for her!_ I thought.

"Is...is this true, Kaede?" Shuichi asked. "I'll admit, I did leave you two alone in that classroom for a time, but did you two really go down to the girls bathroom?"

I looked at Tsumugi and saw her pleading eyes.

"Of course they did!" The cosplayer said.

Unbeknownst to the girl and a few other oblivious students, the more 'focused' students of the academy all made various reactions to Tsumugi's claim. Kiyo, for instance, slowly shook his head. Kirumi covered her mouth with her gloved hand, Maki closed her eyes, Keebo remained silent, Ryoma hid his eyes behind his cap, Kokichi snickered, and even Shuichi put his hand to his chin in skepticism.

"No." Me and Kaede simply said.

The cosplayer tilted her head in confusion. "...What?"

"No." I said once again. "You're lying, Tsumugi. Me and Kaede never went down to the girls bathroom during the crime. We never saw you."

The blue-haired girl furrowed her eyebrows sternly. "I see... So you're willing to defend the likes of Gonta... but when it's me, you're quick to point your finger."

Kaede looked down to reflect on the event that had just transpired.

The cosplayer continued her rant. "Kaede's suspected of being the culprit and Shuichi, Sharla, and Keebo come in to defend her. Then Gonta becomes suspected and Kaede comes in to defend him. But when it's me... why would anyone come to the rescue of someone so boring and plain? No one wants those two to die, so they start accusing the person who's the most expendable. This... this isn't a class trial to find a murderer... it's just a glorified popularity contest!"

"H-Hey…" Tenko addressed the others. "Are we sure that Tsumugi's the actual culprit?"

"What, you're starting to doubt?!" Miu questioned.

"I'm just saying." The aikido master muttered. "She looks really shaken up about this."

"Gonta no want to see Tsumugi like this…" Gonta said with a sad expression. "Maybe it better if Gonta was culprit instead."

Kaito clenched his fist at the conflict that appeared before him.

"Calling my beloved class trial a gloried popularity contest?" Monokuma became appalled. "Looks like we're at **ninety-five percent** now."

"C'mon, c'mon, let's start the vote!" Monotaro hurried. "If you don't hurry, you're all gonna dieeee~!"

"So... who do we vote for?" Himiko asked.

"Who fucking else?!" Miu exclaimed. "It's gotta be Tsumugi!"

"But... are we really sure it's her?" Tenko asked.

"Like I said, who else could it fucking be!?" The inventor became frustrated.

"Tenko does have a point, though." Ryoma said. "We only get one shot at this and if we choose wrong, we're all gonna die."

"Who else could it be?" Kirumi questioned. "All signs point to Tsumugi as the true culprit."

"Well we also have Gonta and Kaede to suspect." Kokichi offered.

"What are you saying?!" Keebo shouted.

"Hey, there could be a chance that we just got lucky with those five shot puts." The supreme leader responded. "Who knows, maybe if we dropped a sixth one, that one would've hit Rantaro."

"We can't know that for certain!" The robot replied.

"Yeah, we can't know that for certain!" The purple-haired boy countered back.

"Hmm." Monosuke adjusted his glasses. "Looks like they're having trouble solving this murder."

"In that case." said Monokuma. "Why don't we give them a little motivation, my cute little cubs?"

"Oh ho ho!" Monokid replied. "I get what your saying, Pop! I'll start us off then!"

"96%..." The blue bear said ominously.

"T-They're counting down!" Tenko yelled.

"Actually, they're counting up!" Angie corrected.

"Nyeh!" Himiko squeaked. "Wh-What do we do!?"

"Please!" Tsumugi shouted. "Don't vote for me! We're all doomed if you do!"

"Shut up, bitch!" Miu spat. "You ain't making the call on this one!"

"97%..." Monosuke said ominously.

"If it alright with everyone." Gonta said. "Gonta will vote for Gonta!"

"Gonta you don't need to do that!" Kaito shouted.

"M-Maybe I'll just close my eyes and pick someone at random..." Himiko said out loud to herself.

"Himiko, please don't do that!" Tenko shouted.

"Ooh, that sounds like a fun idea, Himiko!" Angie complimented. "I want to try that too!"

"No! No! Stop!" The aikido master tried to halt the two's actions.

"98%..." Monophanie said politely.

At this point, I closed my eyes shut and was sweating hard.

"Guys, we can't be disorganized like this!" Kaede shouted through the chaos.

"Oh?" Kokichi turned to the pianist. "Then what do you think we should do, oh fearless leader?"

After a slight pause, the blonde-haired girl quickly spoke once again. "Vote for me if you need to!"

Shuichi couldn't believe what he heard. "K-Kaede! What are you..?!"

"It's okay, Shuichi." Kaede assured the detective. "Because I know the mastermind, and all they want is to have this killing game continue no matter what, even if it means convicting the wrong person!"

"Oh?" Kokichi took note of the pianist's words.

"So vote for me!" Kaede continued. "But after you do, please... check that utility closet in the girls bathroom!"

"HUH!?" Tsumugi reacted.

"Check the bathroom, check the A/V room, check anywhere where there might be a hidden passage!" The pianist declared to the others.

"99%!" Monotaro shouted ominously.

I let out a low growl at this point.

"Kaede no need to sacrifice herself!" Gonta said. "Everyone! Vote for Gonta! If it no matter who culprit really is then Gonta will be shield for rest of you!"

"Gonta…" Kaede was moved by the entomologist's words.

"Okay, are we voting for Tsumugi?" Miu asked. "Are we voting for Gonta? Kaede? Who the hell are we voting for!?"

"Whoever it is, we need to do it NOW!" Kaito's face darkened in fear.

"M-Monokuma!" Shuichi hastily shouted. "We're ready to start the-"

"ONE-" Monodam began in a slow monotonous tone.

"We're too late!" Tenko yelled.

"-HUNDRED-"

Kaito screamed in fear.

"PERCEN-"

**"PAUSE!"** Me and Tsumugi shouted.

I didn't mean to shout at the same time as the cosplayer but regardless, Monodam stopped suddenly.

"Huh?" Himiko questioned. "He just stopped."

Monokuma also kept still for a brief moment before tilting his head. "...ninety-nine percent ...ninety-eight percent…"

"Huh?" The mage questioned again. "He's counting down."

Kaede, however, had other things on her mind, "Tsumugi... that outburst from you and Sharla just now…"

All eyes turned to the blue-haired girl in question, who once again had her head lowered and her eyes hidden.

"You know the mastermind…?" Tsumugi muttered the pianist's previous words. "It doesn't matter who the culprit really is..?"

The cosplayer scoffed as she continued. "Offering to sacrifice yourself... Asking everyone to check the girls bathroom... I always knew you had this self-righteous personality, but who knew it would end up being this bad? Even if this is supposed to be **who you are**... I just can't…"

Then, she pulled out her Battle Gem from her jacket. The gem itself was a dark blue and the thing on the top of the gem resembled Monokuma's red eye except it was the same color as the gem and had golden frames around it.

Tsumugi then raised her head to look Kaede straight in the eye, revealing the furious anger displayed on her face. "I JUST CAN'T HELP BUT HATE YOUR CHARACTER ARCHETYPE!"

Kaede recoiled at the cosplayer's outburst.

"I knew it. **She is one of the traitors hiding among us.**" I muttered.

The blue-haired girl continued with her tantrum. "AT THE START, YOU WERE THE ONE WHO SAID YOU WOULDN'T GIVE IN TO THE KILLING GAME, AND YET YOU PLANNED TO KILL SOMEONE! ISN'T THAT ENOUGH TO DECLARE YOU GUILTY!? SO WHAT IF SOMEONE TRIED TO FRAME YOU!? FACT IS THAT RANTARO NEVER WOULD'VE DIED IF YOU DIDN'T PLAN YOUR LITTLE MURDER TRAP! YOU'RE A SHAM! A LIAR! AND ALL I DID WAS TRY TO EXPOSE YOU FOR THE HYPOCRITE THAT YOU ARE!"

Her words echoed throughout the room until it slowly faded into silence.

From that silence, Kiyo spoke up. "Are we to take this as your confession, then?"

Tsumugi said nothing.

"I think... we can take that as a yes." Ryoma said.

"We better hurry." Himiko warned. "Cause there's still the time limit-"

**"Zero. Percent."** Monokuma stated. "Puhuhuhuhu."

"Nyeh?" The mage squeaked. "Zero?"

"I suppose that means... we have no time limit to worry about." Keebo said.

"In that case." Shuichi spoke. "I'll use this time to summarize the case. Will you help me, Kaede?"

"You want me to help?" The pianist asked the detective.

"Yes." Shuichi answered. "We wouldn't have been able to discover this truth without you, after all."

The blonde-haired girl took a moment to react to the detective's words before she happily nodded her head, "Y-Yes! Of course I'll help!"

"I'll help too! Let's do this!" I exclaimed.

With the three of us composed and ready, me, Shuichi, and Kaede shouted in unison.

**"This is the truth of the case!"**

The detective began the closing agrument. "As previously deduced, it was indeed Kaede who set up the murder trap that was supposed to kill the mastermind. But what we didn't realize, was that another trap was being set up in tandem with Kaede's, and it was during the investigation when me and Sharla had discovered this 'other trap'. It all began in the library where Kaede and I had just finished establishing everybody's alibis. All that was left to do was question a certain someone on their ability to disguise themselves as anyone. This person... would be the true culprit of this case. After the culprit dragged Kaede out of the library to prove their innocence, me and Sharla were left alone in that room. With nothing better to do, Sharla decided to check the body once again. There, we saw the murder weapon: the shot put ball. It was at that moment, we realized that there was someone who had the opportunity to obtain the murder weapon and keep it hidden until the moment of truth arrived: Kaede Akamatsu. From there we further discovered the entirety of Kaede trap. Fearing the worst, we took it upon myself to test out the trap and see for ourselves whether Kaede was truly the one who killed Rantaro. Sharla tried to convince Miu, Ryoma and Kirumi to allow us some privacy in the library, and after making a deal with Kirumi, they were willing to let me have the room. The deal in question? Having Kokichi as our partner. Sharla instructed Kokichi to take the murder weapon and roll it from Classroom A. Surprisingly, he complied and left the library to follow my orders. Little did we know, he set up his own plan into action."

Kaede proceeded to continue the closing argument. "During this time, the culprit had just finished showing me why they couldn't been the one who murdered Rantaro. The two of us exited the girls bathroom and we were on our way back to the library. That would've been the end of it had we not noticed a certain someone walking along the halls of the academy with the murder weapon in hand. Me and the culprit stopped Kokichi and started questioning him on why he was carrying the murder weapon around. He told us that he had discovered something peculiar about the murder weapon, and that the culprit left a piece of evidence behind at the warehouse that would incriminate them. At the time, I had thought that I was the true culprit in Rantaro's murder, so naturally I thought that I was the one who left a piece of evidence behind. What I didn't realize, however, was that the true culprit also felt nervous at Kokichi's claim and the two of us offered to go with him to look for this 'incriminating evidence' in the warehouse, not knowing we both fell right into his hands. Once the three of us entered the warehouse, Kokichi put his 'prank' into action. He walked into the room first and pretended to trip. He then proceeded to fall onto all of the sports equipment, thereby making a mess of the warehouse. His plan worked too well as that commotion caused the Monokubs to appear. They scolded both me and the culprit and ordered us to clean the warehouse. During that time, Kokichi fled from his spot and grabbed five shot put balls before leaving the warehouse. With this, he was able to accomplish two things: obtain multiple shot puts and delaying the culprit from entering the library."

I continued. "After getting the shot put balls from the warehouse, Kokichi finally went to Classroom A. There, he saw Keebo and ordered him to assist us in the library. With this, we were able to have someone coborrate the results of our little experiment. Once Keebo entered the library and Kokichi ready in Classroom A, it was time for the test to begin. We started with one shot put ball and results showed that it didn't fall to where Rantaro was supposed to be. Then we tried another one. The results were the same. Finally Kokichi rolled three balls at once, and they all showed the same results. Five-out-of-five times the shot put balls missed their mark, which led us to one conclusion: Kaede wasn't the actual culprit. But with this revelation, what actually happened during Rantaro's murder?"

Kaede continued. "The night of the incident, Shuichi, Sharla, and I were in the 1st floor classroom. We were waiting for the mastermind to trigger the trap we set in the library. Around that time, there were four people in the dining hall, including the true culprit. After the motive was given, they knew that I had been planning something... but the culprit wanted some insurance. They would take action, if needed. The culprit excused themself from the dining hall and went to the bathroom. And from there, to the hidden room in the library that only the mastermind could enter. And there... they waited. With less than an hour before the time limit was reached, Rantaro moved the library's bookcase...which set off the receiver Shuichi was holding. Shuichi ran out of the room, and I rolled my shot put ball into the air vent. At the same time, Rantaro was lured by the flash of the hidden camera I had set. He unwittingly stepped right into the path of the shot. The shot rolled down the path I had made, and then... fell right onto Rantaro's head, killing him instantly, or so we thought. It turns out, that was just what the true culprit wanted us to believe. In actuality, my murder plan happened way differently. My shot put ball didn't actually hit Rantaro. The true culprit saw that my plan failed, and stepped in to finish the job. The culprit jumped out the hidden room and attacked Rantaro from behind. And in their hand, the real murder weapon-their own shot put ball. Rantaro wasn't killed by my shot, but the true culprit's. They picked up my shot and left their shot put ball at the scene. My shot put ball in hand, they returned to the hidden room. Their crime complete, the true culprit went back through the hidden passageway. The hidden passageway led from the hidden room all the way to the girls bathroom on the first floor. While they were pretending to use the bathroom, they were actually using the hidden passageway. There was only **one person** who could've seized this opportunity at the time of the murder."

Me, Kaede, and Shuichi pointed at the true culprit who, as if they were a villain in an anime, adjusted their glasses and gave us a scowling look.

"This was your lie, wasn't it?" Shuichi said.

"You're the traitor who hid this truth away from us!" I continued.

"This was your ultimate lie to frame me, **Tsumugi Shirogane, the Ultimate Cosplayer**!" Kaede finished.


	13. Chapter 1: HCT, OCT - Part 11

Utter silence.

This was the only response Tsumugi could give after all that had transpired.

"Say something." I demanded.

I waited for a response from her but she didn't say a thing.

"Say _anything_." I demanded once again.

Still no reply.

After a few moments of dead silence, Monokuma decided to take charge. "It seems our dearly accused is a bit tongue tied. In that case, let's take it away, my adorable children!"

"Oh, we're doing this for reals?" Monotaro questioned. "Well then, looks like the-"

"Looks like the debate's finished, so that means it's **Voting Time**!" Monophanie finished for the red bear.

"Alright, you bastards! Press the button in front of you to cast your vote!" Monosuke continued.

Monokid raised his guitar in excitement. "And make sure y'all vote, cause refusin' to vote is grounds for termination!"

"AT-LAST." Monodam spoke. "THE-HEART-RACING-EXCITEMENT-AS-THE-BLACKENED-AND-THE-SPOTLESS-FINALLY-FACE-OFF."

All the robotic bears raised their paws in excitement. "It's... VOTING TI-"

"XENOBLADE TRANSFORMATION!"

Suddenly, with that shout, Tsumugi was engulfed in light blinding almost all of us but I knew what was happening. Tsumugi had fully remembered her true self and has activated her Battle Gem.

When the light faded, the cosplayer now had strawberry blonde hair tied in pigtails dressed in a black cardigan, a black-and-white tie, a red miniskirt, and mid-sized black boots with platform heels and red laces. Her signature weapon, a broadsword was attached to her back.

"Hey, are you sure about this?" She spoke.

"Oh?" Monokuma's attention was grabbed.

"Wh-Who the hell is this?!" Kaito asked.

"A-And what happened to Tsumugi?" Kaede questioned further.

**"That... is Tsumugi's Xenoblade Transformation."** I said simply.

"Xenoblade Transformation?" Kirumi repeated.

"The Battle Gems' primary power." I explained. "It changes the user's appearence and their abilities reach their full potential."

The others seemed to understand where I was coming from what they know about the Battle Gems.

"Well?" Tsumugi spoke again. "Are you able to handle what will come afterwards, if they vote for me?"

The black-and-white bear returned the gaze at her now light blue eyes. There was a brief moment of silence between the two before he finally responded.

"Let me ask you something." Monokuma began. "Do you know what makes a killing game great?"

Though the bear presented a question, he didn't give any time for there to be a response as he continued. "It's not just about the murders, the trials, or even the punishments. I could care less about the blood... the depravity... all of that is merely par for the course. Do you want to know what truly makes a Killing Game great; the thing that really tickles my fur when watching one? **It's the anticipation of the unknown.**"

"The unknown?" The now strawberry blonde-haired girl questioned.

"Sometimes, things don't always go according to plan, as you of all people should know." Monokuma explained. "And in this delicate situation, it could very well spell the difference between **life or death**. That goes for the participates, but the same goes for me as well. And in this moment, every single person standing in this room is anxiously waiting for what comes next, because once I give the word to start the vote, we'll all receive a one-way ticket into the unknown."

I listened intently at Monokuma's little monologue. Not just me, but the rest of us didn't have it in them to interrupt him either. They had every right to ask questions, to make any sort of remark, but no. We all stood there listening to the twisted bear's words, trying to understand their meaning.

"Does my reasoning satisfy you?" Monokuma asked Tsumugi. "I am fully capable of handling this killing game, if that's what you're worried about."

The pig-tailed girl took in Monokuma's words and gave herself a moment to think.

"...Of course that's what I'm worried about…" She spoke. "After all, I... I…"

In a flash of light, she changed back into the familiar cosplayer.

"I LOOOOOOVE THIS KILLING GAME!" Tsumugi cried out in joy.

"T-Tsumugi?!" Kaede cried out her name as she noticed a key difference.

Me and the others noticed it too. Tsumugi's eyes were no longer soft teal but they were the same light blue as her transformation. I realized that we were looking at the real Tsumugi Shirogane.

"Wh-What was with that transformation just now?!" Kaito questioned.

"Now, now." The cosplayer raised both her hands in dismissal. "You'll all get a chance to ask your questions, but only after we finish with the proceedings!"

"Puhuhuhu!" Monokuma laughed. "You're right! I think this trial has been delayed long enough!"

"PUHUHUHU!" Tsumugi returned the laugh. "Exactly! Who will be chosen as the blackened? Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one? IT'SSSSSS VOTING TIIIIIIIME!"

In an instant, all the screens attached to everyone's podiums turned on simultaneously. There, it presented us with a choice of who we thought the blackened of this case was.

I didn't hesitate to choose the person who I knew was the true murderer of Rantaro Amami. Once I made my choice, the screen declared an announcement as it seemed everyone else had made their decision as well.

"Puhuhuhu." Monokuma laughed. "It seems everybody made their vote. Let's see the results."

Another screen lowered itself into the trial room for all of us to see. The screen lit up to display the results of the voting and showed a unanimous vote for Tsumugi Shirogane.

Suddenly, the screen changed to display the verdict, and to most of our relief, the screen displayed a flashing image of Tsumugi's face, confirming once and for all that she was the true culprit.

**...**

**Class Trial - ALL RISE**

**...**

Monokuma instructed us that they were free to remove themselves from their podiums. All of us placed themselves in various positions around the trial room, as if to create a more casual atmosphere after all that had transpired.

"Well well well, looks like you guys got it right!" The headmaster declared. "The killer of Rantaro Amami, the Ultimate hehBlehBLEH, is Tsumugi Shirogane, the Ultimate Cosplayer!"

Rather than say anything, Tsumugi chose to glace upwards at nowhere in particular with her index finger raised.

Monokuma could only chuckle at the blue-haired girl's nonchalant response. "Y'know, as an added bonus on completing your very first class trial, I'll say this as well: **The mastermind that you guys are so eager to find... is also Tsumugi Shirogane!**"

"Tsumugi..." I muttered. "I remember now... **you're one of the five traitors**."

"I'm aware, I've never thought we would encounter each other again after the war." The cosplayer admitted as she gazed at me. **"With the effect of the Flashback Lights gone because of you, I can finish what me and the others began because of you!"**

"Sharla... You know her?" Kaede asked in confusion.

"I knew this would happen." I said to myself before facing the others. **"The Tsumugi you now see before you is no longer the Ultimate Cosplayer you came to know."**

"What..?" Maki muttered.

"In other words..." I continued. **"You're looking at the real Tsumugi Shirogane, the Ultimate Seamstress and the Disciple of Speed."**

"You mean Tsumugi's talent was a lie?!" Kaito asked.

"That's right." I answered.

"No way..." Gonta muttered.

Seeing our silence, Monokuma thought no one had any other questions that could be answered by the seamstress.

Just as he was about to declare the beginning of the blackened's punishment, he noticed a hand slowly raising from within our group.

"I have a question." Kokichi finally said.

"Oh?" Tsumugi observed. "This should be interesting."

The supreme leader shrugged in response. "Well, it's sort of a question-sort of an observation kind of thing. It's just, I couldn't help but notice... you really love this killing game, don't you, Tsumugi?"

"Of course I do!" The blue-haired girl said almost obsessively as if to further emphasize her point.

"Was that all you wanted to say?" Kaede questioned.

The supreme leader ignored the pianist and continued on. "I mean, you really really REALLY love this killing game, right?"

"Yes, of course!" The faux cosplayer continued to smile.

"And that's why you confessed to the crime back then, right?" Kokichi asked. "Y'know, when Monokuma was doing his final countdown?"

Tsumugi's joyful smile slowly started to fade as she was trying to determine where the purple-haired boy was going with his questions. Nevertheless, the seamstress saw no outright concerns in answering.

"Well, yes." She responded. "That is why I chose to do that in the end."

Kokichi laughed in relief. "Of course that's why you chose to do that! You had to make sure the killing game continued, riiiight?"

And like a flip of a switch, Tsumugi's smile returned. "Y-Yes! I needed to make sure the killing game continued!"

"I understand completely!" The supreme leader shouted in joy. "You worked hard to prepare this killing game for us to participate in, it would've sucked if the game had to end so prematurely."

"Yes! Yes!" The faux cosplayer started to shout in complete euphoria. "I couldn't let the killing game end on the first murder! Not when there was so much potential that could be explored!"

"Yeah! Yeah!" The supreme leader did his best to match the blue-haired girl's enthusiasm. "Games are no fun if they end too soon! You would do anything to continue this killing game, even if it meant your own life!"

The seamstress laughed in triumph. "Exactly! I'm so glad you understand me, Kokichi!"

Kokichi returned the laugh. "Of course I understand you! I understand everything now!"

But slowly his laughter started to die down. "Well... there's actually one thing I don't understand. I'm wondering if you can help me out with this, Tsumugi?"

"Of course, Kokichi, what is it you want to know?"

The supreme leader smiled. **"Why did you decide to frame Kaede for Rantaro's murder?"**

Tsumugi's smile complete vanished from her face. "Huh?"

The purple-haired boy turned away from the girl and addressed a different person. "Actually, I have a better question for Monokuma!"

The twisted bear in question, ever so curious, decided to take the bait. "Go on."

**"What would've happened had we voted for Kaede like we all initially planned?"**

"What would've happened, you say?" Monokuma repeated the question that was asked of him.

"Mhmm." Kokichi nodded his head. "Had we all voted for Kaede to be the blackened instead of Tsumugi... what would've happened next?"

"I-Isn't it obvious…?" The black-and-white bear stuttered for a brief second.

Noticing this, me and Kaede took a step closer at the conversing headmaster and student, curiosity ever-so increasing.

"Not really." The supreme leader answered the bear. "I wouldn't be asking, otherwise."

Monokuma, who seemed to be growing more and more fidgety, looked back and forth at Tsumugi and the rest of us whose eyes were now all fixated on him.

"It's not that hard, Mr. Headmaster." Kokichi snarked. "Just say who would've died and who would've lived."

"Well, if you guys voted for Kaede…" Monokuma began. "Then she would've... uh no wait, uh, Tsumugi... no actually everyone else would've…"

Seeing the bear stumble over his words must've gave Kaede a terrifying realization. She slowly walked toward Monokuma, with only one question on her mind.

"Wait." The pianist said. "If everyone had voted for me, and we never found out that Tsumugi was the actual murderer... would you have executed me after all that?"

"That's what I was thinking with the way you're acting." I admitted as I walked forward as well.

"W-What?!" Monokuma became incredulous. "Of course not! If you were voted as the blackened, then I would've executed everyone EXCEPT Tsumugi!"

"Is that right?" Kokichi asked.

"Of course that's right!" Monotaro butted into the conversation.

"What, you think this game's bein' run by a bunch of unprofessionals?" Monosuke added.

"That is right." Monophanie said. "We here, in this academy, take great pride in following the rules to ensure a safe and fair killing ga-"

"So why did you frame Kaede for Rantaro's murder?" Kokichi immediately asked Tsumugi.

"AW SON OF A BITCH!" Monokid could only yell.

The seamstress in question could only smirk at the supreme leader. "You think you're so clever, don't you?"

"Well, I mean, your options for excuses are easily refutable." Kokichi said as he gave her an innocent smile. "For instance, had you said you did it so you could have an easier way to 'graduate' from the class trial as the blackened…"

"...Then why didn't you just take the First Blood Perk when you had the chance?" Shuichi stepped in and finished Kokichi's thought.

The supreme leader smiled at the detective. "Heyyyyy, not bad, Shuichi. Maybe you and I ARE on some magical wavelength."

"I knew it!" Himiko exclaimed.

"There's also the fact that she's so passionate about this killing game." Kirumi also pointed out. "I find it doubtful that she would risk ending the game so early even if she went through such lengths to start it in the first place."

"Touché." Tsumugi responded.

"So then…" Gonta began. "The reason Tsumugi frame Kaede for murder…"

"It seems our suspicions were well warranted." Kiyo said as his expression turned dark. **"Monokuma and Tsumugi were indeed willing to break the rules of the killing game and had planned for Kaede to be executed."**

At that moment, I growled as I got close to Tsumugi. She's gone too far for me!

"I can't believe it…" Kaede muttered. "This would've been for nothing. Rantaro's death... this class trial... It would've been all for nothing."

"But that didn't happen!" Monokuma happily stated. "You guys managed to solve the crime and find the TRUE murderer! So technically no rules were broken at all!"

Kokichi shook his head. "Nope, the implication is damning enough. You were willing to break the rules of the killing game, that much is clear."

The accusations were starting to take a toll on the robotic bear as he grew more agitated. "Oh yeah? Fine! You're right, I'm willing to break a few rules of this killing game, so what? I'm the goddamn headmaster of this academy! What exactly are you gonna do about it?!"

The supreme leader shrugged his shoulders. **"Guess I'll die."**

"H-Huh?" Kaede replied.

"Aww, giving up already?" Monokuma taunted.

"Not exactly." The small purple-haired boy said. "I'm just refusing to play."

"Refusing to play?" Tsumugi echoed.

Kokichi sighed. "Y'know, I was willing to go along with this killing game... I really was. I mean, it's kinda fucked up, but I appreciated how much thought went into it. Now that I know the rules are pretty much nonexistent, there's really no point in playing. Why would I play a game that's rigged from the start?"

And from his words, the rest of the students were starting to see the supreme leader's point. I lifted my gaze so I could see both Tsumugi and Monokuma, staying silent as I did so.

"Hey, yeah!" Tenko shouted. "If you were willing to break one rule, who"s to say you're not willing to break more of them!?"

"Then what's even the fucking point of playing this game?!" Miu exclaimed. "I thought we were supposed get a fair chance of escaping!"

"T-There is a fair chance for some of you to escape!" Tsumugi said, slowly becoming more flustered.

"Is there?" Maki asked. "For all we know, there might not even get to be two survivors cause you'll probably just kill them too, when it's all said and done."

"Ooh, the old horror movie cliché where everyone dies in the end!" Angie exclaimed.

"S-So, you're saying it's all pointless, then?" Kaito questioned. "It doesn't matter what we do, because those two are just going to screw things up for us!"

"Now, now let's not make any dangerous assumptions, here!" Monokuma said, doing his best to calm the situation. "I'm still willing to follow the rules of the killing game. For instance, since you all successfully caught Rantaro's murderer, the rules say that there's some retribution to be called for!"

"Ah yes!" Tsumugi said excitedly. "The punishment!"

"Punishment?" Kaede repeated to herself.

"Don't worry, everyone, seeing the blackened get punished will make you all feel a lot better!" The seamstress continued.

"But the blackened." Ryoma muttered. "Isn't that you?"

"So?" The blue-haired girl replied. "Sure, I framed Kaede on the chance I'd get to continue this killing game as the secret mastermind, but I'm still willing to die for this game if the situation calls for it."

"You are one crazy psycho bitch…" Miu stated under her breath.

"And speaking of 'die'." Monokuma spoke. "I've prepared a special **punishment** for **Tsumugi Shirogane, the Ultimate Seamstress, the faux Ultimate Cosplayer and the Disciple of Speed!**"

Tsumugi gasped in excitement as her face began to flush red in pleasure. "Ah! Here it comes... the best part of the class trials!"

"W-Wait, dammit!" Kaito shouted. "There's still so much you need to answer for!"

"Good luck, everyone!" Tsumugi called out to us. "I hope you all have a joyous and wonderful killing game!"

And with the seamstress's final words, Monokuma held his stomach in boisterous laughter. "Let's give it everything we've got! It's...PUNISHMENT-"

**"NO!"** Me and Kaede shouted at the top of our lungs.

Our yell reverberated around the trial room, managing to stop even Monokuma in his tracks.

The bear was not amused being interrupted. "Well that was certainly loud and annoying. Got something you want to say, you two?"

"You can't execute Tsumugi alone." I told him directly to his face.

Tsumugi looked at me, matching Monokuma's unamused state.

"Oh really?" The robotic headmaster questioned. "And why not?"

"You and Tsumugi both broke the rules of this killing game…" Kaede started.

"I think we established that quite clearly." Monokuma said sarcastically. "That's why I'm executing Tsumugi!"

"The execution is what the both of you want!" The pianist countered. "That is NOT a punishment!"

"Hey, I'm just following the rules of the killing game from here on, toots!" The twisted bear argued. "Isn't that what you've all been yelling at me about?"

"Not until you've paid a price that satisfies everyone here!" I shouted.

Monokuma scoffed. "OK, you two, I'll play along. What? **Would you prefer the both of us being executed instead of me just executing Tsumugi Shirogane?**"

Me and Kaede looked at each other and our expressions turned serious. It was most likely the most serious the others had seen us.

**"Yes."** The two of us simply said in unison.

Both of them gave us a pause.

The others looked surprised by our confirmation.

"I beg your pardon?" Monokuma finally replied.

"You heard us." Kaede said. **"Both of you must be executed for what you've done."**

The pianist turned her head at the laughter coming from the seamstress.

"Even now, you're still expressing that self-righteous attitude that I absolutely despise." Tsumugi said as she approached Kaede.

The pianist said nothing as the faux cosplayer inched herself closer and closer until the two were face-to-face staring each other down.

"You think by having both of us executed, that will make up for all you've done?" The blue-haired girl asked.

Again, Kaede continued to stay silent, only giving her opponent a stern gaze as the seamstress turned to face me.

"Or... do think that by some miracle." She continued on. "The truth about the killing game will be revealed? Is that why you want Monokuma to be executed along with me?"

"Are you afraid that might actually happen?" I responded back at the faux cosplayer.

The blue-haired girl furrowed her brow. "You realize I don't care either way what happens to me, right? If I live, then I'll get to witness my beloved killing game for that much longer. If I die, then I'll die knowing that the killing game has proceeded as intended. You can't win with these options."

"We don't care." I replied. "These are our terms."

"Puhuhuhuhuhu!" Monokuma laughed. "'Terms'? Terms for what? You talk as if you have all the power in this matchup! Why the hell should I even listen to you in the first place?"

Kaede shrugged her shoulders. "Guess we'll choose death, as well."

Tsumugi nearly stepped back in surprise, but managed to quickly recover from it while giving us a mocking smile, "Do you think your life is valuable to us, or something? Just because I want this killing game to continue, doesn't mean it's enough that you're able to use your own life as a bargaining tool. This game can go on even if it loses two extra students."

"What about three?" Shuichi suddenly said.

"Sh-Shuichi?" The seamstress stuttered as she looked at the boy.

"Shuichi…" Kaede muttered.

Kokichi leaned his head from behind the detective "Hi there. It's me, Kokichi, who already offered his life earlier rather than play this unfair game."

The faux cosplayer looked at the two new students who were willing to sacrifice themselves and looked back at me as I looked back at her with a confident smirk.

"Four people isn't enough to stop this!" The disciple shot back angrily.

"Five." Ryoma stepped forward.

A sweat started to form from the blue-haired girl's forehead.

"It's already been a pain getting this far." Himiko said. "Maybe it's better to just give up right now."

"Fuck it!" Miu yelled. "If there's no point in trying to survive, then we might as well rip that bandage off early!"

"Ah, excellent!" Angie said happily. "I already prayed on everyone's behalf to Atua, so He shall be most pleased to meet you all!"

"If this is what everyone truly desires, then of course I am also willing to offer my life." Kirumi complied.

"I suppose this isn't the worse outcome…" Keebo said reluctantly. "At least we'll die together as friends."

"Agreed." Kiyo said. "I am truly moved at the camaraderie I'm witnessing. If this is indeed my last moments on this earth, I am satisfied that I got to see humanity's true beauty."

"G-Guys, c'mon." Tsumugi said nervously. "Life is precious, y'know? You shouldn't be so willing to throw it all away for nothing…"

Maki approached the seamstress and gave her a dark glare, "I'd rather die seeing a frown on your face than living on seeing you die with a smile."

The blue-haired girl gulped.

"Wait guys." Kaito interrupted. "She's got a point. We can't just accept death so easily."

"See?!" Tsumugi nearly jumped up in excitement at the astronaut's response. "Kaito gets it! He's willing to continue this game as long as it means he gets a chance to live!"

Kaito raised an eyebrow. "Who said anything about playing this game? I'm talking about **one last stand against Monokuma!**"

"W-What?" The faux cosplayer questioned.

"You heard me!" The astronaut exclaimed as he pumped up his fists. "Sure it's a lesser chance of survival, but at least I'll go out fighting rather than dying the way you want me to!"

"Gonta will fight too!" The entomologist proudly declared. "Gonta will use massive body to protect as many friends as he can!"

"I'll show you dumb robots that my Neo-Aikido is not to be taken lightly." Tenko said as she prepared a fighting stance.

"Well, you heard them, Monokuma!" I exclaimed. **"This is our answer!"**

Monokuma kept silent at this turn of events happening before him.

Tsumugi, however, was less stoic. "N-No... this can't…. you all have to..."

"What's wrong, Monokuma?" Kokichi mocked. "You were gonna do this before, weren't you?"

"Yeah c'mon!" Kaito shouted. "Just bring out the Exisals or whatever, and let us fight!"

The Monokubs, as well, observed the scene with a slight hint of nervousness emanating from them.

"Woof..." Monotaro breathed out. "This is looking bad…"

"Oh c'mon." Monosuke scoffed. "They're just bluffin'. No way they want to die so easily!"

"B-But if you're wrong, that means this room's gonna be filled with everyone's blood real soon!" Monophanie warned.

"Wait, if everyone dies and this game's over…" Monokid said. "What the hell happens to us?!"

Monodam paused before speaking. "...EARLY-RETIREMENT..."

At this point, everyone started talking over each other, demanding for Monokuma to end this killing game by any means necessary.

"C'MON!" Kokichi shouted with a big smile on his face. "Just do it, coward! Kill us, already!"

"Yeah!" Miu shouted as well. "At this rate, I'll die from suspense before you kill me with an Exisal!"

Tsumugi was at a loss for words. She had lost complete control over the situation and now whatever happened next was up to Monokuma to decide.

"Well, Monokuma?" I once again addressed the headmaster.

"So I just have to submit and be executed with Tsumugi?" The black-and-white bear finally spoke.

The others ceased their bickering at Monokuma and took in what he had just said.

I didn't respond as she waited for Monokuma to continue speaking.

"That... Those were yours and Kaede's terms, were they not?" Monokuma asked me.

I looked back at the other before nodding in confirmation.

"Yes..." I responded. "Those are our terms."

Monokuma looked down before taking a deep breath and slowly raised his head back up. **"...Very well. I... submit."**

All five of the Monokubs flinched back in terror.

"Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-" Monotaro stuttered.

"BLRBLRBLRBLRBLRB!" Monophanie threw up.

"WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK?!" Monokid exclaimed.

"Y-You can't be serious?!" Monosuke said in disbelief.

"BUT-WHY-FATHER?" Monodam could only ask.

"Because I have abused my power as headmaster of this academy." Monokuma explained. "In my quest to organize a successful killing game, I was willing to break the rules. That shouldn't be something a leader does…"

"But Daddy!" Monophanie exclaimed. "The best leaders are the ones who abuse their power!"

"Sorry, my cubs, but the public has spoken. When it comes to killing games, one must be prepared to pay the price. Even if that one is a coordinator such as myself."

"B-B-B-But, who's going to be the headmaster of the academy if you're going away?!" Monotaro asked.

**"I think you mean 'headmasters'!"** The black-and-white bear excitedly exclaimed.

"Huh?" The red bear questioned. "Y-You mean..?"

Slowly, Monokuma's expression became one of somber pride. "I'm placing **my wish** on the five of you. From here on out, **you Monokubs are in charge of this academy**."

The pupils from behind Monosuke's glasses widened. "W-We're in charge..?"

"Shiiiiit!" Monokid exclaimed. "I know I should be pumped for this... but... but... SHIIIIIIIIT!"

"Monokid's right, Daddy!" Monophanie said with tears in her eyes. "We can't accept this role if it means we have to lose you!"

"Enough!" Monokuma shouted. "I raised you cubs to be much stronger than that!"

The rest of the Monokubs proceeded to form tears in their eyes as well.

"B-But... Pops…" Monosuke sobbed.

The father of the Monokubs looked down on the floor once again, on verge of tears himself. "Promise me... promise me that you'll all do your best... to make this a fun and fair killing game."

"D-Daddy!" Monophanie cried.

"FATHERRRRR!" Monotaro shouted in despair.

From the rest of us that were witnessing this scene unfold, one student was engaged in the moment as well and had tears streaming down her face.

"M-Monokumaaaaa!" Tsumugi cried. "At... At least we'll go down togetheeeeerrrrr!"

"I don't know what the big deal is…" Ryoma said nonchalantly. "I doubt this will be the last we'll see of him."

"Alright!" Monokuma said as he composed himself. "As newly appointed headmasters of this academy, you have a job you need to do!"

Monotaro sniffled. "...Yes... Father…"

"C'mon, now!" He encouraged. "This will be the first and last time I get to see you cubs do this, so let's make this a good one for everyone here!"

"R-Right, Daddy-o!" Monokid yelled, amping himself up.

Monokuma turned to us. "Especially YOU, Kaede. I want you to see this nice and clearly now…"

The pianist must've felt herself shiver at Monokuma's ominous tone. Whatever were to happen in a few moments, I had a feeling she wouldn't like it.

"Now then..." Monotaro began. "Let's get started..."

"We have..." Monophanie hesitated before continuing. "...A very special... punishment... prepared for the Ultimate Seamstress... faux Ultimate Cosplayer... and the Disciple of Speed... Tsumugi Shirogane... and the Ultimate Despair Headmaster-"

"AND ULTIMATE DADDY!" Monokid added in.

"...Monokuma…" Monosuke finished.

"M-Monokuma..." Tsumugi whimpered.

"Sharla, your **special hope** can **undo the Flashback Lights' effects and restore the traitors' true memories**. Don't think you won just yet!" The bear said to me.

"Right... It restored my memories... It can restore the others' too..." The seamstress muttered. "So promise me, you'll find **the real mastermind**."

"OK... I promise." I obliged.

"Don't let her down!" Monokuma exclaimed.

"LET'S-GIVE-IT-EVERYTHING-WE-GOT!" Monodam declared.

"It's... PUNISHMENT TIIIME!" All five of the Monokubs cried out.

"I believe in you!" The Disciple shouted. "So... please, believe in yourself... OK? It's a promise."

From atop the judge's seat in the trial room stood the Monokubs. They each gave each other a short nod to prepare themselves for their first duty as headmasters of the academy. Monotaro proceeded to grab a gavel and smash it upon a giant red button.

Suddenly, the screens from within the room turned on and displayed a moving image showing pixelated versions of the Monokubs dragging away Tsumugi and Monokuma with the message:

* * *

_**GAME OVER**_

_**Tsumugi and Monokuma have been found guilty.**_

_**Time for the punishment!**_

* * *

With the screen quickly turning off, all of us prepared ourselves for what we were about to witness. Tsumugi and Monokuma, though trying to stay calm, were also sweating for what is about to occur.

And in the blink of an eye, two collars attached to ropes gripped themselves around Tsumugi's neck and the area where Monokuma's neck would be and dragged them out of the room. They tried to grab the collars in an desperate attempt to get out of them...

...but they knew it was futile.

The screen once again turned on to display what appeared to be a title card, as if the execution needed that extra bit of glamour.

What the title card displayed was:

* * *

_**Tsumugi and Monokuma's Grand Finale**_

_**Ultimate Seamstress and Ultimate Despair Headmaster Tsumugi Shirogane and Monokuma's Execution: Executed**_

* * *

Tsumugi and Monokuma found themselves within an abandoned city. They walked around the empty streets as they was seemingly alone. Just then, from an alleyway they heard a noise. They cautiously turned their heads to the source of what they heard. They readied themselves for whatever was to jump out at them from within that alleyway with Tsumugi transforming and gripping her broadsword.

The alleyway was completely empty, however.

They lowered their guard and sighed breaths of relief, only to turn around to find a mob of Monokumas all lined up and staring at them. Normally the former headmaster would've been glad to join them in their mob mentality to raid, pillage, or whatever their goal was. Monokuma had a suspicion that the army of bears weren't gathered for that.

No... they were after him and Tsumugi.

They ran away from the army as fast as they could.

They knew what this was, so why were they trying to run? They thought they could escape this execution.

Suddenly, a small explosion went off in front of them. They looked up to see that there were Monokumas dressed in military gear throwing bombs directly at them.

The fleeing bear and seamstress looked back to see the Monokumas slowly catch up to them as well. Merely running was not going to work in this situation. They saw one of the buildings in the city was open and hastily ran inside. Luckily the building's entrance was lockable so they proceeded to confine themselves from within it. With the murderous army locked out from his location, Tsumugi took this moment to take in her surroundings. They appeared to be in a hospital. How they would get out of this situation, they had no idea, but at least they were able to take some time to assess their current predicament.

That time was cut short as a giant Monokuma head with small arms and feet crashed into the room from the ceiling. Monokuma and Tsumugi, gazing at their new opponent, took a step back before finally running from the creature and into the hospital's hallway. The giant Monokuma gave chase by rolling itself in an attempt to crush the former headmaster and faux cosplayer.

Once again, they ran as fast as they could, but the seemingly endless straight hallways of the hospital weren't helping. Like an action scene in an adventure movie, they was running out of options as this giant boulder-like automaton was closing in on them. What worked once could prove to be beneficial for a second time as they dove into one of the rooms in the hallway, narrowly avoiding the 'Ball Monokuma'. They both breathed in and out heavily, but their moment of peace would be cut short once again.

From within the closet of the room, popped out another Monokuma. It's appearance, however, was completely disfigured and indistinct of it's original model. It moved around on all fours with it's elongated limbs, one of it's eyes was bulging out from its head, and it sported a creepy toothy grin that was different from the sharp smiling chompers that the usual Monokuma models would have.

Tsumugi and Monokuma shrieked in fear and immediately ran into another room from across the hallway. They immediately locked the door and found themselves in a completely empty room.

They weren't alone either.

Two of Monokuma's darling children were present in the room with him: Monodam and Monokid. Both were holding a device, what appeared to be megaphones, in each of their paws.

They took aim at their father and the Disciple of Speed and fired.

Each shot that came from the megaphones cause extreme pain to them, and each of them wasn't the same kind of pain. One shot paralyzed them where they stood, another caused them to burst into flames, one even made them do a dance. The former headmaster pleaded to his cubs with his eyes to just end it already. In any other circumstance, they would've been happy to oblige, but this time wasn't it.

It was time for the grand finale.

The ceiling opened up and another pair of collars attached themselves to Tsumugi and Monokuma, dragging them away to a completely different location.

After what seemed to be an eternity, Tsumugi and Monokuma were finally lowered onto some solid ground. The room they seemed to be in was dark, and their footing seemed unstable. What was much more worrying to the bear and seamstress however, was the fact that the collars were still attached to them. They looked to their sides to see two more of Monokuma's kids, Monophanie and Monosuke, were both gripping a rope. Upon closer inspection, they realized the rope were the ones that were attached to their collars. The two cubs pulled on the rope and made Tsumugi and Monokuma stand on the very tiptoes of their feet. It was then Tsumugi and Monokuma got a clear view of what they were standing on: a set of giant piano keys.

The lights of the room turned on to reveal a giant auditorium filled with Monokumas. Monokuma himself and Tsumugi were set upon a stage with a giant piano, whose cover was protruding with giant spikes.

In front of the stage, on his own little platform, stood Monotaro dressed in his finest tuxedo. He needed to look his best for both the audience, the Disciple of Speed and his father because this would be the performance of a lifetime... literally.

Monotaro began conducting and the other two Monokubs, operating the rope as if it was like a pulley system, guided their father and the faux cosplayer's flailing bodies from one key to the next. The tune they were attempting to perform was 'Flea Waltz', albeit quite poorly due to their unorthodox method of playing the piano. The melody began slow, but gradually increased in speed as Monokuma and Tsumugi struggled from their position, desperately trying to get the collars off. The song continued on, faster than it originally started as if someone hit fast forward on the remote until the tune was completely unrecognizable. Monotaro conducted as fast as he could. He conducted faster and faster and faster and faster until the performance finally came to an end.

Hanging in the middle of the stage were Tsumugi's detransformed and Monokuma's lifeless bodies. Despite those circumstances, however, the audience of Monokumas applauded the performance. They threw bouquets and other lavish awards at the hanging figures. Monotaro, as well as the other four Monokubs, gave a bow of appreciation to the audience as the curtain fell... and so did the spiked cover of the piano…

...crushing Tsumugi and Monokuma's bodies and breaking Tsumugi's Battle Gem to pieces.

* * *

The Monokubs returned to the trial room in an emotional wreck.

"Fatherrrrrr." Monotaro whimpered.

"C-C'mon... guys... we can't... cry like this…" Monokid said in between sobs.

"At least... the worst part's over." Monosuke said. "But we can't falter... not now!"

"He's right, brothers!" Monophanie said raising her paws in the air. "We mustn't let our Daddy's wish die in vain!"

"That's right!" Monotaro exclaimed. "Father would want something else to die, instead."

Monosuke nodded in agreement. "Exactly! It's our duty as the new headmasters of this academy to ensure a successful…"

"FUN!" Monotaro added

"EXCITING!" Monophanie added.

"SEXY!" Monokid added.

"AND-FAIR-KILLING GAME!" Monodam finished.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Monotaro shouted excitedly. "Let's become the best headmasters that Father would be proud of!"

"Yeah!" The Monokubs cheered in unison. "SO LONG, BEAR WELL!"

And with that declaration, the five bears left the room.

I stared in disbelief to what I just witnessed. The others also had similar shocked expressions on their faces.

"Th-The way they died at the end…" Kaede spoke as she fell to her knees. "That…"

"It looks like the frame-up was planned this whole time." I muttered. "And that last part was supposed to be your execution, Kaede."

"Sharla..." The pianist whimpered.

"It's going to be OK. It's over. Let's head back up the elevator." I advised.

We all headed back up the elevator and exited the Shrine of Judgement. It had already become night.

"Yo, why the long faces?" A female voice asked.

We looked to see two girls in front of us. They also had a height difference. One of them was 5'2" and the other was 5'8".

The shorter girl has short black hair with dark pink streaks in it, with a long piece down the left side. She also has a thin strand of hair coming out of a bass clef hair clip. She wears a pink gradient into black stockings, thick black bracelets on her wrists, a white completely sleeveless crop top that looks rippled, a black skirt with pink vines around it with pink lace at the bottom, a black sleeveless spiked jacket with golden buttons, a golden lapel pin, and a pink strawberry with a black fork in it and the words 'STRAWBERRY THIEVES' on the back, a black leather belt with a silver buckle, a black choker with silver spikes, and black boots with a sliver center, dark pink laces and musical notes on the sides. She has amber eyes, thick black eyebrows, black painted fingernails, silver helix and lobe earrings on her ears and black lipstick.

The taller girl has dark, shiny tyrian purple hair styled into four large spirals. Her eyes are light pink. She also wears a rose in the right side of her hair and her nails were painted pink. She wears what looks like an seifuku with a orchid purple skirt that reached her knees, and a orchid purple scarf around her chest with a pink mini ribbon attached to it. She also wears a grey fur coat reaching below her knees over it with a gold lapel pin with the logo of a familiar school, Akademi High School, attached to it, white knee-high socks with pink stripes and sakura petal forming a flower near the top of each leg, silver shoes with black soles and red roses on them, and a black choker with a red rose on it around her neck.

"Are you two **Ultimate** students too?" Kaede asked.

"Oh yeah! I'm **Miyuji Shan**, the **Ultimate Vocalist**! Nice to meet ya!" The short girl, Miyuji exclaimed.

"Introductions are clearly needed." The tall girl snarked. "I am **Tokuko Kitagawa**, the **Ultimate Actress**. The girl who will become the biggest name on the acting scene in all of Japan!"

"A vocalist and an actress, huh? Those both sound like cool talents!" Kaede exclaimed.

* * *

Later, I walked into Kaede's research lab and both the pianist and Shuichi were there.

"You promised you would play it, right Kaede?" I asked.

"Yeah, after everything that's happened we all need time to calm down." The blonde-haired girl replied.

"Yeah..." Shuichi said simply.

Then, Kaede started to play 'Clair de Lune'. Like she mentioned, it calmed my heart.

_With Miyuji and Tokuko here and Tsumugi, Rantaro, and Monokuma gone... I wonder how things will play out now._ I thought to myself.

**...**

**End of Chapter 1: Her Class Trial, Our Class Trial**

**Surviving Members: 17**

**Present Obtained: Disciple Broadsword - Proof that you cleared Chapter 1. A memento of Tsumugi. It was her weapon of choice during the Killing Titan War.**


	14. Chapter 2: Her Song of P & S - Part 1

In a hidden area within the academy, the Monokubs had all gathered together.

"So then..." Monosuke began. "We all brought the 'stuffs'?"

The other Monokubs nodded their heads and each pulled out a flashlight as the yellow bear did the same.

_**SMASH!**_

And all at once, the five bears smashed their items onto the floor, leaving a scattered mess of metal and glass.

"That takes care of that." Monosuke sighed in relief as he clapped his paws clean.

"Are you sure this is the best option?" Monophanie asked. "These things were a very important asset to us..."

"We're supposed to create a fair and fun killing game, aren't we?" Monokid argued. "Thanks to **that bitch's execution**, why should we stick with **her plan**?"

"It wouldn't be very fair if we followed her narrative right after she was executed." Monotaro concluded.

"But what are we supposed to do for a narrative now?" The pink bear questioned.

"THE-KILLING-GAME-TAKES-PRIORITY-OVER-THE-NARRATIVE." Monodam answered.

"Monodam's right." Monotaro agreed. "As of this moment, all eyes are on us to get this killing game back on track."

"Geez..." Monosuke lamented. "This killing game certainly deviated from where we wanted it to... Dammit, Pops, you sure left us with a heavy responsibility..."

"Don't worry." The red bear assured. "Monodam and I talked and he came up with a plan that will for sure get the killing game back up and running!"

"Yeah, I was there, and his plan blew my fucking mind!" Monokid shouted excitedly. "DAMN, MonoDAM, how come you never told me you were so clever?!"

"BECAUSE-YOU-WERE-ALWAYS-BULLYING-ME?" The green bear answered bluntly.

The blue bear laughed. "Oh yeah! Guess that's MY BAD!"

"In any case." Monotaro said. "With this plan, and a few other **wildcards like the 18th and 19th students just implemented and Sharla's slowly recovering memory**, we'll have ourselves a fun and fair killing game in no time!"

With their leader's confident declaration, the Monokubs all laughed in excitement.

**...**

**Begin Chapter 2: Her Song of Passion and Sin**

I stretched my arms as I rose from my bed. The morning announcement had already passed, but I decided to take a few extra minutes to reflect on everything that has happened yesterday.

_Like the Disciple of Speed she is, Tsumugi went all out to try to frame Kaede for Rantaro's murder. And now she and Monokuma are gone, her Battle Gem's in pieces like some of those owned by the victims of Killing Titan War... Two new students, Miyuji and Tokuko are now in this twisted game. I'm sure that when the next murder happens, they won't be able to keep smiling for long._ I thought to myself as I headed to the dining hall.

Seeing everyone there, I softly took a breath before speaking up.

"Is everyone feeling OK after yesterday?" I asked.

"We're fine, but I'm curious about **who Tsumugi was**." Miyuji admitted. "Everyone else keeps saying you should know, right?"

I nodded in confirmation. "Yep, I can tell you everything."

"It's about time we got an bloody explanation!" Tokuko exclaimed.

All eyes were on me now. I took a soft breath before I set the truth free.

"During the Killing Titan War, **Tsumugi was the Disciple of Speed and the Ultimate Seamstress. Her speed can outrun any monster me and my friends could encounter... it could also freeze time itself and let her move freely**. She devoted herself alot to sewing new outfits for others in her free time. **She puts up an sweet and gentle facade to hide her true devilish nature**." I explained.

"So her actions after the trial was her true colors." Kirumi theorized.

"That's right..." I answered. **"She had low self-esteem so she transforms into her take on her deceased idol. That's why she looked like a different person when she transformed."**

"And she **acted** like her idol too." Ryoma pointed out.

"Plain Jane clearly wasn't who she fuckin' claimed she was, so she kept that façade up during the trial, didn't she?" Miu asked.

"That's apparently the case." Miyuji answered for me. "Damn, the thought of a seemingly innocent person being a complete psychopath is totally insane."

"Well, at least the bitch got what was coming for her in the end." Tokuko snarked. "Anyway, the two of us forgot to tell you guys more about ourselves."

"Oh yeah, you two seemed to come out of nowhere and you didn't give much last night." Kaito said.

"As you can tell." The vocalist began. "I'm the leader of a band, the **Strawberry Thieves**! Everyone in Akademi High School knows for a good fact that me and my friends will have great music careers once we graduate. I'm also the daughter of the lead singer of Japan's most popular rock group, the **Pumpkin Destroyers**! They're well known for their Gothic Lolita fashion sense and their badass live shows!"

"Wait, you're _the_ Miyuji Shan?! **The daughter of the Pumpkin Destroyers' lead singer, Kuroi Yurei?!**" Kaede shouted.

"Yes, my father, **Haruto Shan**, is the lead guitarist of the equally popular **Flaming Cherries**. Only problem is, they barely address me in any way and they're always distracted by the perks of being part of two of Japan's most popular music groups, live tours, interviews, photoshoots, and all of that." The black-haired girl admitted.

"This makes sense since popularity can lead someone into neglectfulness. That is especially true in modern day music." Kiyo said.

"Hey, I should tell you guys some juicy information too!" Tokuko exclaimed. "Anyway, my mother, **Kireina Jonetsu**, is one of Japan's best known Broadway stars. She got her start in _Princess Mononoke_ as the title character! Most of you guys might know her as the Wicked Witch of the West in _Wicked_. I desire to follow in her footsteps and become the best-known performer in all of Japan!"

"That sounds like a pain because of all the work needed if that's what you're aiming to become." Himiko snarked.

"Of course, this leaves me at constant odds with the leader of **Akademi High's Drama Club, Kizana Sunobu**. But I don't act as prideful as she is for my own sanity." The actress admitted.

Once everyone let this new info in, it was time to start planning on what everyone was going to do. The day before everyone finished exploring all of the newly unlocked areas. Tenko even set up a little poolside date for most of the girls and Keebo. Maki wanted to stay in her lab again instead and Miu was too busy due to a project Kaede asked her about so she pushed for Keebo to go in her place. I was exploring Miyuji and Tokuko's dorms and research labs, they seemed excited to find out that they got similar rooms like mine.

"Has anyone else watched **those tablets the Monokubs gave us**? I tried to but when saw that I got **someone else's** I stopped so I didn't see the whole thing." Kaito said.

"Huh..?" Shuichi muttered

_What? More tablets? Why?_ I thought.

"Kaito got one too? Atua said the one Angie got would mean nothing to her, so I just started trying to incorporate it into a sculpture instead for now. Since damaging it was said to be against the rules." Angie muttered.

"What the bloody hell do you mean you got someone else's?" Tokuko asked the astronaut in concern. "Mine had my name written on the back but it wasn't anything I thought was special."

The actress herself most likely knew what she was talking about as I saw the tablet too.

"I didn't see anything when Gonta got me this morning, what are you guys talking about?" Kaede questioned.

"What, really Kaede? We all get **motives** delivered beyond our doorstep and you can't even get ahold of yourself enough to even _notice_? Jeez, some 'leader' you are-" Kokichi was about to mock before being cut off.

"Hey, watch it you brat! Besides, if these are motives, it might've been for the best most of us didn't fucking see 'em." Kaito exclaimed.

Keebo was quick to latch onto this idea. "I agree with Kaito! If they are truly intended as '**motive videos**' for us, I think the easiest way to protect ourselves from this threat is to ignore them."

"Oh come on, you guys. Are you guys seriously chickening out of a motive? **All of you could've died from the time limit**, so how is this motive any different?" Miyuji asked.

"Yeah! You guys are just cowards to keep me away from my entertainment!" Kokichi yelled.

"You two are suggesting we all divulge the contents of whatever video we were given, yes?" Kiyo asked. "Have we and the owners of their respective videos no right to privacy anymore?"

Everyone began arguing over what to do, some sharing who's videos they had while others refused despite trying to find out who had their own.

"Wait, everyone! Kokichi and Miyuji might have a point here." Kaede exclaimed.

The pianist tried ignoring the look of smug superiority on Kokichi's face, but she certainly had everyone's attention now.

"If we watch all of these videos together, we'll better know what's being used against us." She explained. "Depending on the contents of the motives it may also be good to have others to talk to about them too, rather than dealing with any stress they could cause alone. I don't see anything Monokuma and his cubs want us to have being purely for our own benefits after all, and who knows if the contents of these are even true or not."

Everyone quieted down to weigh down their options.

Ryoma was the first to speak up. "Not all of these motives could even lead to a person trying to kill you know. I just want to know what reason Monokuma and the Monokubs think would work on me."

"Gonta thinks it could also help us get to know each other better!" The entomologist exclaimed. "Gonta never watched movies with friends like this before."

"And what of those of us who would rather not know?" Maki asked. "Or those who think their video could do more harm than good? Will you just force us all to participate for the sake of your own paranoia?"

"Come on now Maki Roll, it can't be that bad." Kaito responded. "And if you don't want to know what your own video's about you can just leave the room for a bit or something. If it's because the idea scares you then at least we'll be able to let you know if those worries were founded or not and help you through it either way!"

The look on the caregiver's face was enough to reconsider how safe of a plan this really is. Or at least think twice about using that cutesy nickname for her as that's when this glare started, not that the astronaut noticed.

"Well everyone, let's just take a vote then!" Kaede declared. "If we want to watch the videos we'll find a way to hook them up to the projector in the AV room, and if we don't we'll just gather up all of the videos and decide on a safe place to lock them all up as a group. Since Angie mentioned destroying them isn't an option for us."

Ryoma's hand was the first up when voting for the videos, followed by Kokichi, Gonta, Kirumi, Kaito, me, Miyuji, Tokuko, and Kaede. It looked like Tenko was going to wait for the 'no' votes but when Himiko raised her hand so did she.

Maki, Angie, Keebo, and Korekiyo voted against it. Miu said she wasn't really interested either and already had other projects to work on so she just didn't want to be put in charge of projector duty.

With the results in, 12 for it to the 5 against it, it was easy for the pianist to announce their decision. "So looks like that's settled then! Think we could watch them all tonight, about when nighttime starts? It'll be better to get this over with sooner rather than later to keep more of us from peeking early."

"I guess I'll take a look at the projector now and tell ya if it'll look like I'll need to make any adjustments to it for this to work, but sure sounds like a plan so far." Miu obliged. "Or ya know, even if it doesn't we can just bunch together and use the tablets directly while we Netflix and chill-"

"I'm fairly certain that's not a program any of us have access to nor is 'chilling' a part of neutralizing a potential threat to our lives." Keebo said, not understanding where the inventor was coming from.

"I think it's obvious that's not exactly what she had in mind, Keebo." Shuichi told the robot.

Before the detective could explain what Miu meant, Kaede spoke up. "So anyway, I guess we'll just have some free time for ourselves for now!"

After that, I decided to let Miyuji and Tokuko join the rifle lessons with Ryoma and Tenko. They seemed catch on pretty easily.

_I am a bit curious about the motive videos to be honest... Maybe we'll get some clarity on each other's backstories._ I thought to myself.

* * *

Kaede was the last to enter the A/V room, as she made sure to remind everyone to come down before making the trip herself. Kokichi was on Gonta's shoulders making sure everything up there was hooked up the way Miu wanted it, while the rest of us took what seats we could, including some beanbag chairs me and Miyuji got from the warehouse. The Monokub pads were in the order Kaede, Kokichi, and Miyuji had agreed on since this was their idea.

Kokichi had initially wanted to do the opposite order of who voted for what, so those who didn't want to see the videos went first. I couldn't tell if it was out of petty spite against them disagreeing with him or to give them an excuse to leave early if they really wanted to, so I decided to quietly believe the latter. That didn't stop Kaede and Miyuji from making their own changes to it, like being against keeping Ryoma's last since he was most interested in what could be inside it.

It boiled down to Kokichi, Kaede, and Miyuji first since they pushed for this, then Miu so she could go back to her projects if she felt like she needed to. That did result in the supreme leader pestering what I had commissioned from the inventor but he eventually dropped it in favor of focusing on the task at hand. Ryoma was the most eager out of all of us so his would be next, followed by Kiyo since he was against it and the trio who suggested this idea decided I would go last. After Kiyo would be Kaito, Shuichi, Keebo, Himiko, Tenko, Angie, Kirumi, Gonta, Maki, and then Tokuko.

"Why exactly am I the one going last?" I asked.

"So you can sit there agonizing about what we're going to see! _Duh._ Nee-heehee~" Kokichi answered mockingly.

"No, that's wrong!" Kaede exclaimed before turning to me. "We agreed on a theory that yours has something to do with this 'Killing Titan War'. This way, we can learn exactly what happened to you during that time without missing anything else. Angie and Kiyo still at least seemed curious about what their 'motives' could be, so I thought having them be earlier would be OK."

Angie was making a puffy face as she considered it before she reluctantly nodded in agreement and Kiyo had his hand to his mask in thought for awhile but eventually shrugged his own consent too.

"And so you don't try to kill us until after the show's over!" Kokichi exclaimed.

"Can you _not_ talk like that? It's freaking me the hell out!" Miyuji scolded, but the supreme leader couldn't care less about the number of glares he got from that comment. "Anyway, is everybody alright with this?"

No one else had any objections or questions about when we were going, so when the lights went off, all of us settled down to see what exactly Monokuma and his cubs could've believed would drive us to kill.

"Alright! Back by popular demand, it's time for the motive video~" Monokuma's voice crooned out over a title screen proving it was indeed 'Kokichi Oma's Motive Video'.

As it went on it showed Kokichi and his fellow 'DICE' members, all but himself in clown themed masks to protect their identities, and explained the nature of this group. How… innocent his 'secret organization' really was despite all of Kokichi's earlier claims. Honestly, it sounds more like they were an overblown gang of pranksters than the sort of world controlling monsters he liked to paint it as being.

Only 10 members strong, indicating that the 9 masked figures seen here behind their 'leader' really were just it. Sounds more like they were his best friends, maybe even practically family for him, rather than 'goons' who disliked him as much as he'd claim they did.

_They say you can tell a lot about someone by looking at their friends. If this video is accurate, this means a lot of what he said have been lies, just trying to trick us into thinking he's a worse person than he is. How could someone only interested in harmless, petty, __**non-violent**__ pranks possibly be enjoying a killing game?_ I thought to myself.

Then the scene changed and the group of 3 girls and 6 boys were behind bars. It's unclear how badly hurt any of them were but there was blood on their previously spotless (but still ragged) white outfits much like Kokichi's own and at least one was lying on the floor. At the end, Monokuma's avatar appeared over that image mocking him over how little he knew about the 'event' that happened to these people so precious to him, taunting him to try and find out as if graduating could help solve this.

"Well, so much for being the Ultimate _Evil_ Leader, huh?" Despite his insensitive words, Kaito was obviously taken aback by all of this, as if he was unsure what to do with this information.

It made sense to me, as it shows Kokichi does understand the value of teamwork and companionship at least as well as the astronaut does. His experience was just in a more close-knit personal way instead of what Kaito's astronaut training opened him up to.

"Kaito! I'm... sorry that your friends are in trouble like this, Kokichi." Kaede said as she reached out to try to pat his shoulder but decided against it because of how closed off his body language became.

"Guess you were lying when you said no one outside would miss a little degenerate like you back then, huh?" Tenko asked.

_Seriously?! Now is NOT the time for hateful wordplay!_ I thought.

"I'm sure they're fine, this must be a lie! After all, if their crimes are as harmless as it claims, they couldn't be in too much trouble for anything, right?" Shuichi said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Unless it wasn't just the law they got in trouble with." Ryoma muttered as he stared as the screen, as if he was lost in a memory of his own.

No matter what anyone said, Kokichi just sat there impassively looking forward but I swore there was a sharpness in his eyes that I've seen before but can't remember when the last time I saw it and his knuckles were nearly as white as his clothing. For all of his talk, he really did choose to hold off on watching his video until it was time to do it with everyone else instead of coming in with an upper hand of some sort.

As agreed upon as the second ringleader, Kaede's was next. It looks like every video's going to start with Monokuma making explicit who the video was for by stating their name and talent, which made Maki in particular bristle for some unknown reason.

Next was an image of Kaede's family, her mother, father, and sister smiling proudly at the camera in front of her favorite piano. The pianist seemed to remember when this was taken, right after her last big show before all of this happened. Then Monokuma starts talking about how close she is to them and how they're all waiting for her to get back home. But as he starts talking about how worried they're getting now that she's been gone for a long time without a word, the image changes.

The room's dark, everything trashed, even her piano was broken now, but worst of all there's no trace of where her own family has gone. He makes it sound like looking for her lead to them all getting into some sort of accident, and she's just about ready to throttle him to find out what that is. But only the Monokubs! I knew the pianist would never hurt someone else over this, never her friends.

"Mom, Dad..." She muttered in horror.

"Wow, Kaede, you really _are_ boring, aren't you? Even your lines are _sooooo_ cliché. I think you need to hire a better writer." Kokichi mocked.

"Oh, so _now_ the clown prince of crime has something to say?" Tokuko snarked. "Leave her the bloody hell alone, this is no laughing matter!"

"But he doesn't have any scars-" Miu was about to say before she trailed off.

_That's what you're choosing to take from all this, Miu?_ I thought.

"He wasn't a clown, that doesn't count-" Shuichi pointed out.

"Can we not ignore Kaede's plight in favor of arguing about comics right now? This is serious, you guys." Kaito interrupted, getting everyone back on track.

"Indeed, the lost of a family member is no small matter, even if it's only a vague possibility." Kiyo explained. "At the very least it didn't show them in any kind of direct distress, that sort of damage to the room could be easily staged or done when they were gone. However, I don't recall you mentioning a sister before, is she your twin perhaps? You both look remarkably similar."

The anthropologist's offered distraction of more pleasant type of reminiscing was greatly appreciated, so Kaede gladly took it.

"Y-yeah, we're twins but she's a bit younger." The pianist said. "We get along great, even though I think she's... kinda bitter she didn't also turn out to be some sort of Ultimate like I am? Since it'd put me in the spotlight so much, and would end up with her either getting ignored or mistaken for me which is the worst. I mean it's one thing when we'd want that to happen, but when it's a genuine mistake it's just frustrating and awful... We'd do the 'twin switch' trick a lot when we were younger, but all our folks ever had to do to tell us apart was stick us in front of a piano, it didn't even matter what type."

"Aww, lucky I've always have someone I could do that with! Hey, Tokuko, do you want to try it sometime with me?" Tenko eagerly asked, cooing over how 'cute' it would be.

"Ah! I see what you mean!" The actress exclaimed. "I can do that with you, but the big problem is how to get the costumes. Maybe if I find something in my room, we can do something similar to do with everyone else later!"

"Oh, I think that's a great idea! We could make a great big party out of it, and everyone can wear fancy outfits!" Angie cheerfully said. "I can do the decorations if Gonta and Ryoma will help me get supplies and put them up~"

"I-isn't that kinda random? And it sounds like a lot of work…" Himiko muttered, showing a bit of interest herself.

_Maybe she would like the chance to have us as an audience for one of her magic shows?_ I thought.

"Well, it's an idea for another time at any rate. With how the videos may be we might need this sort of random levity if we can find a way to get everyone involved. Maybe even show off what we can do for each other if we want." Kaede suggested since she thought it was a fun way to get together for everyone.

"Either way, I can perform a song for you guys too! I was thinking **'Smoke and Mirrors' by Lollia**! It's like a warning sign to a boy about a Yandere girl's true intentions." Miyuji exclaimed with excitement.

"Can I perform a song too?" I asked.

"Ooh~! I had no idea you were interested in music." The vocalist admitted. "What do you want to sing?"

I thought about it for a moment before responding. "I would say **'Never Enough' by Loren Allred**."

"Kick-ass! That song is one of my favorites! Looks like we have alot of work to do." The black-haired girl said. "Anyway, let's start my video. I'm the third ringleader of this idea after all."

Like we agreed on, her video was next. The first thing we saw was a live video of the vocalist's parents performing with the Pumpkins Destroyers and the Flaming Cherries. Monokuma made it clear that they at least gave her everything needed for survival. The scene then change to both of her parents in a interview room with posters for their bands on the walls behind them.

"Miyuji, don't take this the wrong way." Haruto advised. "It's hard to be with you all the time with this whole celebrity life thing."

"We're really grateful that you decided to follow in our footsteps and join your school's local Light Music Club, in fact we're proud of you!" Kuroi admitted.

"We don't know where you are, but we hope you come back soon." The Flaming Cherries' lead guitarist pleaded.

"We apologize for not being able to be with you when you wanted us the most, our careers got in the way, that's all." The Pumpkin Destroyers' lead singer muttered.

"We know for certain that the Strawberry Thieves will be just as popular as we are when you graduate, both of us know it. **So don't lose sight of the truth no matter the odds, Miyuji**." Haruto said before the video ended with no word from Monokuma at all.

The vocalist had a warm smile on her face. "They really did care for me in all this time."

"Looks like we're gonna go through with our party plans." I said with a soft smile.

"_More_ work for me to do? Let a girl catch a fuckin' break, guys. My stamina's _good_, don't get me wrong, but even I have my limits." Miu groaned. "Speaking of which, let's just get my vid started so I can leave already, OK? Your little 'talent show' can come later, just like-"

Right on her cue, the inventor's video did just that. Monokuma's voice being appreciated for once as none of us wanted to know how exactly she was going to finish that thought.

_**Please**__ let her motive be cleaner than the rest of her._ I thought to myself.

All that was seen was what looked like a workshop of sorts. All sorts of half finished projects and equipment could be seen but it's hard to tell what any of it was supposed to do. Monokuma starts going on and on about how wasted all of her work's going to be if she can't leave and get back to them. How no one else cares enough to realize they even exist, much less how to make them carry on her legacy.

He even starts naming a few, a machine that can safely recycle those cheap plastic bags no one knows what do with into things like medical gloves or… condoms? Another that would help clean and regulate water supplies when resources are low. Even some that sound like they're meant primarily for emergency relief efforts or helping the handicapped. But only if they're finished, they're useless like this. He goes on to claim she's useless like this. And how badly the world might need some of these now due to an 'event' going on that he refuses to clarify.

"...That's it?" Tenko broke the silence that followed.

"WHATT'YA MEAN THAT'S IT YOU BASTARD?! Those are my babies we're talking about!" Miu exclaimed with pride. "Do you have any idea how many people I could help with those? I mean sure obviously my 'while you sleep' series was my most recent pride and joy, but only because I couldn't get the headway I wanted on any of those other suckers. I promise they are going to definitely blow those measly little 'eyedrop contact' designs I sold way back right outta the fuckin' water!"

"Wow, that's really impressive, Miu! I had no idea you cared about other people this much." Keebo exclaimed, looking pretty proud of her.

This was a surprisingly mature motive for an egotistical and rude girl like her. In a different sort of way than what we were expecting her to be 'mature' at any rate.

"Well duh, why do you think I'm willing to let you fuckers give me requests without charging you out the ass for 'em in this situation?" The inventor questioned.

"But... aren't you even a _little_ concerned there wasn't anyone in it?" Angie pointed out, she had a point all that we saw was her machines. No signs of family, friends, or co-workers anywhere.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean, jailbait?" The strawberry blonde-haired girl asked the artist.

"Yeah, everyone else so far had _people_ they obviously cared a lot about and cared about them, so where's your parents or anything?" Tenko wondered. I wasn't sure if that is the best thing to ask right now.

"Who fucking needs 'em? Barely do jack for me anyways except give me shit because I point out how school's a fuckin' waste of my precious time now."

"Talk about an ungrateful brat." Maki said with a new sharpness in her voice.

_I guess someone who never had any parents would be upset hearing someone else complain about being cared about._ I thought.

"H-Hey... Th-that's not true, my work more than earned my keep. They're the ones who-!"

Miu cut herself off as her voice cracked and Keebo tried to help calm her down. No one bothered asking why there weren't any of her friends at that point. Given who she is, this should have been obvious, but the idea she was this alone regardless of if it was by her own doing was a sobering reality nobody wanted to address. The only other sounds until the next video started was a quiet sniffling.

Ryoma's video started the same way as those before it, but something clearly went wrong. All that was there when his name and talent were stated was a Monokuma in a yellow hard hat in front of a black screen with yellow 'under construction' tape running along the top and bottom. And when he spoke again-

**"Unfortunately, there is no one in the world who is important to you."**

It didn't matter what 'sympathies' or 'apologies' Monokuma gave after that sentence, the damage was done.

_It doesn't even matter if this is real or a lie this time._ I thought to myself.

"...I don't know why I expected anything else." The tennis pro admitted.

"Holy shit. I'm... I am so sorry, Ryoma. I had no idea." Kaede was too stunned to say much else.

"Hey, at least this means if you do have people outside, that means they're completely safe from Monokuma and his cubs!" Tenko exclaimed.

"Atua agrees, and wants to remind you that you aren't as alone as you fear. He says he's still watching over you and everyone's wishing you well from the other side-"

"Tell your god to shut up and mind his own business." Ryoma cut Angie off.

"Well, you do still have your cat right? The Russian blue you talked about before? I'm sure they're waiting for you and Monokuma just overlooked 'em because it's a cat!" Kokichi knew this kind lie wouldn't help but he still said it.

_I wonder if it's because he's feeling just as guilty about this? He was more likely to have peeked at these than Kaede and Miyuji were and they all knew it. This was __**his**__ plan. How could we have known not all of these videos would be 'motives' to get us to commit a murder?_ I thought to myself.

"Are you bloody sure a familiar doesn't count? Miu's didn't have humans in it either-" Tokuko was going to say before Miu cut her off.

"Come on man, it's a fuckin' cat! That's way harder to find than my glorious resume, of course this sad sack of shit couldn't find 'em. Why'd you think guys have so much trouble finding puss-" It was nice to see the inventor managed to bounce back to normal at any rate. Keebo was still holding her hand but she sure sounded as strong and assured as she always did.

It just wasn't enough for Kiyo to let her finish her sentence.

"Do not forget, we all promised to remain friends when we leave this place did we not? Regardless of those who are gone you do still have us here for you should you find yourself in need of our support." His words here were rather unexpected, normally it's Kaede to be the first to push the value of this promise.

"Aren't there some prisons that let you have pet cats too? For therapeutic purposes as I recall. If you must return to prison when this is over we can all try to give a good word for you to have you transferred to one if you'd like." Kirumi offered.

An awkward silence came before us after the maid said those words. The uncomfortable truth hung in the air, souring any positive notions for what's 'outside'.

"Oh fuck. Right, prison's a thing, ain't it? We'll be sure to visit you too, as much as we can, okay man?" As well-intentioned as Kaito's words were it didn't seem like anything being said was helping Ryoma that much.

But the tennis pro's eyes weren't as hopelessly empty and blank as they had been when the film first ended, hearing how many people here tried to speak up for his sake, so I considered it a small victory for Kaede.

That awkward silence stayed until Kiyo's video started up. There was something already a bit off about this one, as Monokuma started off talking as if he found this, rather than make it himself, and is making it sound like he's doing the long-haired boy some sort of favor by showing it to him.

This video is an _actual_ video for a change, not the static images with basic animations and voice over of the previous. Ironic the anthropologist's motive is technically the most high-tech, as low as the quality the film may be, as he might have appreciated the more Kamishibai-esque natures of the others.

_That's what it's called, right? The thing with the traveling picture based storytellers who'd give candies to children to get them to listen. Maybe not the best comparison, not exactly my field here._ I off-handly thought.

A young woman I seemed to recognize appeared in some sort of hospital bed, and this time she's the one doing the talking rather than Monokuma. She's clearly addressing her little brother, but something feels very off here. It starts normally enough, she's repeating some of what the doctors told her, how it isn't looking good, and that she doesn't want him to feel guilty over anything since he can't be there right now. Sounds like they might even be the only family they have right now too, as she doesn't breathe a word about any parents or other relatives.

But then while it's like she's trying to give him advice to stay calm despite how bad her situation is, it almost feels like she's _coaching_ him on what to do to. "You mustn't" this, "You mustn't" that, all in order to hide how he's feeling from others. And it takes no time at all for him to try and start doing what she says too, though all it really does is keep him quiet at the moment.

Right as it seemed like she was just about done with what she wanted to say, finishing with telling him how much she loves him and how no matter what she'll always be looking out for him best she can, she's interrupted by her own coughing.

Her fits' nearly as violent as Kiyo's own shaking, which only gets worse at the sight on the screen. The sight of blood on her hands. Her blood on white sheets.

It's as doctors start to rush in to try and help, alerted by the machines going off, that the visuals of the video finally cut off. But it isn't a Monokuma avatar with a vague warning that appears at the end here, just his sister's voice one last time over the black empty space.

"But remember Korekiyo. **Most of all... You mustn't forget your promise to me.**"

There was almost a chill in the air at those words, regardless of what this 'promise' may be. Even so, despite everything Kiyo's still clearly trying to maintain his posture and keep quiet like she told him to, even if it isn't working that well. It even sounds like he may be on the verge of hyperventilating under his mask as I tried nudging his arm to get his attention. It's not clear if he notices thanks to the layers he's wearing as he just keeps hugging himself tightly.

"I'm so sorry, Kiyo. I had no idea your sister was doing this poorly. No wonder you wanted to get back home to her as soon as you could." Kaede said.

The others got caught up in the conversation about Kiyo's sister that I kept thinking to myself.

_Kiyo's sister... I remember her name at least... **Miyadera Shinguji...** I remember her but **never have I heard that she had a serious illness like this**! **Maybe my motive video can make sense out of all this.**_

Kaito's was the next video to come. A photo of him in his astronaut gear standing between an elderly couple appears that Monokuma identifies as his grandparents. It changes to the couple sitting on a couch looking concerned, and like Miyuji's and Kiyo's this is actually real footage of them, though it's less grainy than his video was.

They talk about how all they want is for him to never give up and keep on living, not just for himself but for them too. Monokuma's voiceover then cuts in and claims the two got into some kind of accident right after this interview, but as is typical he refuses to go into any more detail than that.

"Oh, wow, Kaede I'm sorry. Really I am! Kaito's is _waaay_ more boring than your video was." Kokichi mocked.

"HEY! SHUT THE HELL UP YOU BRAT-" The astronaut shouted as he moved in to punch the supreme leader.

"Calm down, Kaito, you're fine and I'm sure they are too. They certainly looked safer than some of the others, right?" I put a hand on his shoulder and helped push him back into his seat, saving Kokichi from a punch to the jaw for at least a few minutes longer. For someone with such an innocent face, the supreme leader doesn't seem to care about keeping it that way.

"If they don't know about the killing game, why would they be so concerned about you 'surviving'?" Maki's voice cut in like a knife. "Is there something you aren't telling us?"

"Jeez Maki Roll, you worry too much. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate it and it's pretty cute for you, but it's not like that. It's just astronaut training's very stressful and the job itself is dangerous ya'know? They've always been a coupla worry warts, no biggie." The astronaut told her.

"What have I told you about calling me that?" The caregiver asked as she blushed.

"Oh gawd, please take this weird flirting elsewhere so we can move along already, OK?" Kokichi pleaded.

_Kokichi, why does it feel like I'm putting more work into keeping you alive than you are?!_ I thought.

* * *

One strongly restrained but furious Maki and a securely duct taped Kokichi later, all of us were ready for the next video. Time to see if Shuichi can win out in the contest for 'least interesting motive video' or if it can describe what really happened in his first case as the Ultimate Detective.

It started out with a photo of him with his uncle who Monokuma says is a great detective. He then explained Shuichi's first case was a murder of someone who was a bad person, he never forgot the look on the culprit's face. Monokuma then says the culprit committed suicide in prison after the taping of the motive video.

I saw that Shuichi was shaking and asked "Do you regret siding with the victim?"

"So you noticed that I was shaking, huh?" The detective responded. "Yeah... I kidda did."

"At least the party can let you move on, right?" I pointed out.

"You're right..." The blue-haired boy agreed.

As the videos had hit an almost pleasant lull in their severity, all of us decided to take an intermission, to stretch our legs and all that. Despite earlier concerns though no one decided to stop watching with the others though, even Miu claimed she wanted to stick around to at least see Keebo's since her workload wasn't that bad now that she thought about it.

_I wonder if that means she's nearly finished already?_ I thought.

I couldn't focus on the other students though as I tried finding where Kiyo's gone off to. I didn't need to go very far as it turns out as he was muttering to himself in the library across the hallway.

"Are you OK, Kiyo?" I asked

The answer was obvious as he nearly jumped and seemed to wipe away some tears before he turned to face me.

"A-ah, hello! I hadn't heard you come in, my apologies. I'm doing better I believe, nothing to be overly worried about I assure you." He franticly said.

_Nope, he stuttered and __**I**__ was the one able to sneak up on __**him**__ for a change. That's enough to be at least a __**little**__ worried, even if he didn't look like he's been crying._ I thought.

I walked up to him and pulled him into a comforting hug like I did with Kaede despite our major height difference.

"Well, if you're sure about that. I just wanted to let you know that **if you need someone to talk to or anything you can always come to me about it**, OK?" I told him.

"Thank you, that is very kind of you to offer. But I'll be alright... I was just getting a book to read later, in case the films to come make sleep difficult to reach tonight." The anthropologist said as he pulled away from me.

"That sounds like a good idea. What do they have here?"

The ten-minute break passed quickly like that, since there were a lot of books to look through and I wasn't interested in most of them. I did find a cute-looking fantasy novel though. The mood in the A/V room certainly felt better now than it did before our intermission, as everyone began coming back to see what else Monokuma and his cubs had in store for us.


	15. Chapter 2: Her Song of P & S - Part 2

It wasn't until we got back that all of us realized we forgot to untape Kokichi, who was very unhappy about all of this.

"Kokichi?! I'm so sorry! Are you OK? I think it's OK to undo all this now." Kaede apologized as she started to remove the duct tape from the purple-haired boy's body.

_This is gonna be a long night, isn't it?_ I thought to myself.

"You're all so meeeeeean. What the hell, you guys? Doesn't _anyone_ care about me at all?" The supreme leader whined with actual tears in his eyes. Not genuine ones of course, but still real.

"Come off it man, if you're giving us this sorta crying crap for this, you can't have been too bothered by it." Kaito said. "I mean, it was only for like 5 minutes, grow up."

_It was 10 but OK, Kaito, we get your point. Nice to see Ryoma's still with him and Shuichi though, even if things between him and Maki are kinda weird._ I thought.

"Why should I? I'm no adult yet, none of us are. But fine, be a jerk. Let's just get this little movie night over with." The short purple-haired boy said as he took his seat.

As I took my seat, I thought _Well, I'm 21 years old so I'm the oldest out of all of us. Also, I'm pretty sure Ryoma should be at least 18 when he... committed his crimes. I'm not sure how long ago that was._

Still, like Kokichi and Miyuji suggested, Miu went up to the projector to start things up again. Keebo's video was next. It was rather weird to hear the name 'K1-B0' said aloud like that, Keebo even groaned in embarrassment when he heard it, which made Miu giggle.

It looks like his father's the one who'll be the robot's motive this time around. An almost cliché looking chubby old man with poofy white hair, an oversized nose, and some sort of lab coat is on screen.

It's footage like Miyuji and Kiyo had, it almost looks like it was originally something Professor Idabashi had set up to record how well his robotic tests worked or something. But unlike Miyuji's and Kiyo's, Monokuma's voice is still playing over this, talking about how worried the professor's been since he's lost the signal on a tracker Keebo has on him and he's been working non-stop trying to make something that might be able to find his boy.

Something in this test went wrong though, the large machine became unbalanced when it started to move and crashed to the ground. Right where the professor was standing alongside it. He was still moving though, so hopefully he was fine. Just trapped in the gaps between his creation and the floor.

"Well isn't that a shame~ Sure hope someone knows where he is enough to help him. Who knows how long he's been like that now. I do hope they're able to help him despite everything that's going on-" Monokuma's mocking drawl continues to deliver his normal ending teaser but no one's really listening.

"Of course someone knows where he is, not to mention the professor doesn't work anymore without having some sort of emergency call button. We learned that lesson the hard way a few years ago." Keebo explained. "All he has to do is press that watch you saw there with his hand or hit it against the floor and rescue services will be arriving shortly. Honestly, this is pretty weak for Monokuma. I'm almost disappointed in how little he thinks of the professor if he thought this would work as a motive for me."

"Seriously, you're not at all shaken by this at all?" Miu asked.

"Well... Hearing my tracker really is offline is a bit unsettling, but it's nothing I hadn't already suspected." The robotic student admitted. "Thank you for your concern though, but I'm sure he has to be fine! We can just move along to the next video now, no need to worry."

_At least this batch is off to a pretty soft start. Maybe we're already through the worst the motives have to offer._ I thought to myself.

Himiko's was next on the list. She bristled and objected as usual when the title of 'Ultimate Magician' was said instead of 'Ultimate Mage' but aside from that, she didn't speak up much.

It started off with some stills that were taken when Himiko and her mentor were performing together in some elaborate concert hall. Monokuma talked about how highly her mentor thought of their student, but then something changed as her confidence in herself and her abilities grew to match her reality.

How they began to grow bitter about the leaps and bounds she was progressing, how the audiences clearly preferred her presence over their own by this point. How humiliated they were by their own mistake and that she had to salvage it during a live show no less. Then it cut to another one of the 'interviews' like Miyuji's and Kaito's had, showing her androgynous looking master looking solemn in a fancy chair.

"Himiko, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have disappeared on you like that, it was my own mistake. You did the best you could, and as always it was flawless. I was the one that failed, not you, and it was my own ugly shortcomings that made me act in such a way. I'm sorry I wasn't more honest with you, for repaying your kindness and ingenuity in such an abominable way at that. I shouldn't have let my pride get in your way."

They took a moment to pause as if this was still hard for them to express. I found it unusual that I still couldn't really guess if they were a man or a woman based on their voice, but I assumed this was intentional on their part. It probably helps them come across as more mysterious on stage too.

"Please, come back home. Your parents are incredibly worried about you, they haven't the foggiest idea why you'd ever run away like this. Let me try to make this up to you. There's no shame to be had in surpassing your teacher, and I'm sorry if I made you ever think that way. I'm sorry you got stuck with one so ill-fitted to the task as I was. I just… wasn't expecting this to happen so soon. But this won't happen again, I swear to you. I promise to support you best I can if that's what you need of me, like how things used to be. My little mage. So please, come back to us."

Himiko didn't say a word, but tears were running down her cheeks. It didn't even look like she noticed until Tenko quietly brought her into a hug and started petting her hair to try and comfort her. Monokuma proceeded to imply there was some sort of incident after this was taken that might have put her master and family in danger, but with how vague these always are it was hard to take them seriously anymore.

"Are you OK, Himiko? Is this OK?" The aikido master asked.

"Y-Yeah, I think so. My... my MP's just pretty drained right now, sorry. I don't want to talk about it." The mage admitted.

"It's interesting at least that this case specified they thought you had run away from home, rather than been kidnapped or anything. Maybe that can narrow down what happened to us?" I theorized.

Himiko started to awkwardly return Tenko's hug, though she only really has access to the taller girl's arms at this angle. Angie also started to lean forward to hug them both best she could, as if to help brace them for what may come as the aikido master's video started up next.

She even snatched Himiko's hat to plop it on Tenko's own head, which made the hair petting easier so Himiko didn't mind as she only let out a little 'Nyeh' at its loss. The tall girl made some odd sort of squawk as the hat's brim tilted, briefly blinding her during the introduction, which got a fair amount of chuckles.

Her 'precious person' appeared to be her master too, as an older gentleman with a mischievous gleam in his eye appeared on the screen. What Monokuma wanted to say was quickly drowned out though.

"Oh look, it's my Neo-Aikido master this time! He's pretty cool too you know-" The aikido master exclaimed.

"Wait a second if _he's_ a guy then why are you giving **us** shit all the time?!" Kokichi interrupted.

"What're you talking about he's not a-" The tall girl was about to say but she cut herself off.

_Tenko, did you seriously not realize your mentor was also one of those 'Degenerate males' you bully so much until __**just**__ now?! How on Bionis did you manage that?_ I thought to myself as the aikido master got into an argument with Kokichi.

"That's enough!" I shouted. "Can we _please_ move on to the next video, OK?"

After all of us settled down, it was time for Angie's. The artist had apparently started a game of musical hats when I wasn't looking, given how Himiko's has been making it's way across the room.

Kokichi tossed it up to Gonta as he began eyeing Kiyo's, clearly eager to bring that cap into this 'game' too. However, the anthropologist has caught onto his intentions and is having none of it, aided by the large height differences between the two of them. Ryoma apparently offered his more willingly to the 'cause', as he had no issues with his beanie now awkwardly sitting on Shuichi's head.

The good news is that her people didn't come across as… 'out there', as Angie made them sound in the past, and the island itself is quite beautiful from what is seen in the more film-like segments of the video.

The bad news is no one had realized the artist's native tongue was very different from everyone else's until just now. Monokuma would chime in every now and then, but overall it was various members of her tribe assumedly addressing Angie directly so no one else could tell what was going on for the most of it.

"Hmm, Hmm~…OK! So on to the next video?" Angie asked.

"Hold the bloody phone there, Princess Kida." Tokuko said. "Aren't you gonna tell us what the hell _any_ of that was about?"

"Nope, not really! I don't want to and Atua says it wouldn't actually matter to you all anyway so-" The silver-haired girl was going to say before being cut off.

"Her people feel lost without their 'oracle' or 'prophet' of Atua to guide them and are asking for her to return to them as soon as possible." Kiyo explained "'At any cost' is likely an apt translation of their intent towards the end, they were under the impression their situation was going to turn dire in the not too distant future. Is that an accurate enough summary, Angie?"

The artist was furious, I thought I've seen her closed mouth smile have this much malice before but I shook off the feeling for now.

"Angie doesn't remember you claiming to know her language before. So why now huh? Why? _**Why?**_" She then went on to say something to him directly in her language but it didn't look like she got the reaction she wanted from him at that.

"That's because I don't, so I was rather genuinely asking if my assumptions about the content were correct. I've heard languages like it, but I'm not what you may consider fluent in them yet and this particular dialect is very new to me. If you hadn't been so intent on hiding what did sound to me like potentially dangerous or concerning information I wouldn't have risked offering a translation as muddied as I'd consider that one to be, but alas here we are. Should I be taking this hostility as a 'yes'?"

"...Atua didn't think so, so I trusted His judgment. He's far wiser than Angie is, so no I'm not worried about their safety in the slightest. I only speak for Him, there is nothing preventing Him from watching over my people so He assures me all will be well with them for however long I'm here with you all. I have no concerns about any of this, so why don't we continue to move on."

With that thinly veiled order, she snatched Kiyo's hat off his head and returned to her seat. He wasn't particularly amused by this forced return of the hat game, but he let her have it for now. If he really wanted it back it wouldn't take much effort for him to get it anyway. And so with Angie merrily bouncing in her seat again with Kiyo's cap now proudly atop her head Kirumi's video began.

The first thing seen was just a regular shot of a city, I didn't quite recognize it but it was certainly busy. There were some confused murmurs from the others, as the imagery wasn't really matching up to the 'clients in politics and finance' Monokuma chose to specify. But then it switched to the Prime Minister's office and all began to clear.

The Prime Minister had transferred all of the authority of his position to her.

With that revelation the significance of starting her video with a whole city made sense. A shot of a caretaker with some children even followed this, as if to parallel the role of a maid to a nanny. Only now their whole nation was the 'household' Kirumi was to take care of, and they'd all be doomed if she can't do what's needed of her.

With an image of a nurse taking care of the elderly, Monokuma began to mock her by using her own standards against her. She did agree to take on this 'role' after all. And now all of her 'precious people' were in some sort of danger, phrased as if they were incapable of handling this while she faces her own struggles.

"WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!" Kaito yelled in confusion.

Kirumi was shaking, eyes darting between everyone else, any lighthearted mood in the room that was strained before was now completely gone. Her green eyes land on Ryoma for a moment as the tennis pro returns her vicious gaze with one of a muted understanding. Had the two been alone the maid may have even been able to act on the obvious thought going through her mind. But they aren't. And this time, all of us can see what she's planning to do.

"Woah there crazy cakes, we still can't prove how legit any of this is! Don't you go threatening anyone over this shit!" Miu puts herself between the two as if bracing for the maid to go for the jugular. Which considering Ryoma's height would probably be around the inventor's knee at this angle, and her brave facade still quickly deflated in the face of Kirumi's determination, but it's the thought that counts. But seeing a girl as cowardly as Miu act in Ryoma's defense did make that resolve flicker, if only for a moment.

And that moment is apparently all that Gonta needed, as he lifts her in what is better described as an aggressive hug rather than a grapple as tears run down his face. In this position, there's nothing she can do to free herself from the entomologist's grasp, not that it stops her from trying.

"This isn't Kirumi! Gonta knows how much Kirumi cares. Cares for all of us. Wouldn't want to make everyone sad resorting to that. Us and all those other people." Gonta exclaimed.

"Not to mention how becoming a cold-blooded murderer would be rather difficult to brush aside for you to continue those duties, would it not? Unless you are so committed enough to kill all of us that you'll even try to keep all who care about us in the dark about what happened here. Or perhaps this just isn't your first time doing so?" Kirumi leveled Kiyo a deadly glare at that accusation.

Maybe he wasn't so off the mark, considering the other sorts of 'jobs' she may have done.

_But this is Kirumi! She's like my personal assistant to the others. She'd never do something like that. Something like this... She just scared right now, like we all are. She's too reasonable, too considerate as a person, to __**actually**__ want to risk doing this to us. Isn't she?_ I thought to myself.

"Hey, that's no way to speak towards my mom! Besides aren't we your 'precious citizens' too? We're not all just numbers to weigh against each other to you, right?" Kokichi's teary face and nickname for Kirumi nearly made her do a double take, but it did have the effect he intended as her body went limp.

"Umm, Angie's not sure if she 'counts', but Atua agrees. We are in similar boats, you and I, but murder is a horrible sin, and so many sins crawling upon your back would surely keep you from serving your people to the best of your ability. There's only so much praying can do for your soul you know. And all the spiders in the world wouldn't be able to save you if you truly wish to go down that path." Something about the artist looks off. Her eyes were almost glazed as if she's not all here again, but she's clearly furious Kirumi would be considering this despite her smile.

"Wh-What exactly do spiders have to do with anything right now? Please stay focused!" Tokuko stuttered out.

"Oh, Tokuko, sure you don't want to make a reference no one but a loser would get right now-" Kokichi was about to mock the actress but he was cut off by Kirumi.

"Enough! Cease your bickering, both of you!" And with that ragged wet gasp, the maid fell right back into her normal mother hen habits.

Between the hug and everything else, it looked like she's finally ready to give up. There's no way anyone would just let her get away with a murder after all, even in light of her motive.

_For now anyway. Could she ever care enough about us to stop completely, or just enough to use us to fill her void of 'Master'?_ I thought to myself as I approached her.

"Kirumi, I... _we_ understand. Maybe not all of this, since it all still sounds pretty crazy to me, but we know you. How hard this is to listen to, how terrifying it is to think you're unable to help anyone." I told her. "We're all being told this in Monokuma's own twisted way too. But I'm sure there is a way out of this, and even if any part of what Monokuma says is honest there's surely still time to help everyone. Your nation isn't _that_ helpless for so much to rely on one talented teenage girl. So please Kirumi, just trust us a while longer?"

Gonta's not the only one crying now, but that's OK. Kirumi doesn't have anything else to say but given the ashamed look on her face and the tear tracks on her cheeks, the danger was mostly passed now. Miu and Keebo took Ryoma into their little comfort corner too, so hopefully any harm the threat's done to his sensitive state has been lessened. As he goes to go back to his seat Gonta places Kirumi between him and Tenko, just in case, as the next video starts up.

_At least we're almost done with all of this._ I thought.

At least next was Gonta's, so me and the others settled thinking that there was little chance of his being nearly as bizarre as the one before it.

…And it proceeded to show a tribe of fucking lizard people.

Well according to Monokuma they were 'Reptiles', and they were more like _Ignas_ to me, but the point remained. The group couldn't even wait for the film to finish before the questions started coming, hoping Gonta had some sort of reasonable explanation. As reasonable as something this confusing could be.

"I'm sorry, but what exactly is he talking about Gonta? This isn't at all like what you told us!" Tenko exclaimed.

She did have a point. I didn't believe anyone could be raised by wolves for ten years even before watching these videos.

"Gonta is very sorry! Forest family warned Gonta to not tell humans about Reptiles. That bad things happen in past, not want to make happen again. So Gonta didn't. Gonta lied and said they were wolves, like boy in Jungle Book's forest family was. Gonta didn't want to lie, just protect forest family wishes." The entomologist admitted.

"To be fair as Gonta is clearly well socialized enough we likely should have pointed out the issue of being literally raised by wolves is more limited to stories rather than reality." Kiyo explained. "Barring cases of feral children of course, which again is not the case here as we can clearly see Gonta is far too well adapted for this to apply. Not to mention the logical issues involved, since wolves haven't been native to Japan for over a century. Thus this dishonesty going on as long as it did was more the result of our doing than his own. Though I am rather curious about these 'Reptiles' of yours now, I will need to inquire about them later. If you wouldn't mind discussing them with me of course."

"You guys do realize we're missing the video, right?" Shuichi asked in worry. "Wasn't that the point of this? Will we need to show it twice now-"

"It's fine, I can still hear it." Kaede cut in. "It's Monokuma's standard 'Here look at the people who matter so much to you. Oh no, looks like they're in trouble. Why is that? Well, you'll just find out for yourself!' song and dance. Specifically, he's phrasing it as though the forest they live in is in some sort of danger, he's keeping it so vague you can't even tell if it's a natural disaster or if people found them and this was what they warned Gonta about. Assuming his claims are even true in the first place."

Me and Miyuji nodded in agreement.

"Kaede really think danger is a lie?" Gonta asked.

"Of course it is, man!" Kaito exclaimed with one of his poses. "They're motherfucking _dinosaurs_! Even if their forest was in a tight spot, they'll be fine. I mean the natural disaster angle seems most reasonable, what with them saying everyone else is 'in trouble' too, and that's gotta be the thing they are most likely to get through no problem right? They've survived everything else life's thrown at them. So you just gotta believe in them for now, OK?"

"Y-Yeah. Kaito right! Forest family strong, stronger than Gonta! Forest family be fine." The entomologist confidently said.

"If they really are stronger than Gonta then the dragonkin types in games have really been nerfed..." Himiko softly mumbled to herself with a bit of a smile on her normally blank face.

"Oh, you're into that sorta thing too? I was thinking more the Super Mario movie really, but-" Tokuko started, obviously excited to have someone else to have someone else with her interests.

But apparently, Maki thought this was one distraction too many by this point so she urged things along. "Let's just get this over with already, you can ask her to play dress up or nerd out with you later."

Maki's video was next anyway. She looked so grim no one knew what to expect.

Considering how secretive she had been about her lab this twist really shouldn't have been a surprise.

As Monokuma stated her name as normal it was her talent that didn't match up with what she claimed.

**"Maki Harukawa, The Ultimate Assassin."**

"Silly Monokuma, that's not how 'Child Caregiver' is pronounced. You probably should have chosen a better lie to go with Miss Child Hater, but this is a waaaay more interesting talent to work with riiight?"

Everyone's panicking at this point, accusations and questions flying like bullets across the room at Maki. But all she does is glare at Kokichi, on her feet and ready to make a break for the door at a moment's notice. It doesn't look like she'd be against breaking anyone who tried getting in her way either.

"Do you want to die?" That phase is too natural on her lips. Of course this would be true.

_I already have a friend who's the Ultimate Child Caregiver anyway._ I thought before deciding to speak up.

"W-Wait, Maki, I'm sure you have a good reason for this, right? You must have thought we'd all be less open to you, or see you as suspicious if we knew right? You were just scared how we'd react-" I said.

"Or she lied because she has an unfair advantage in this 'killing game' that works best if the rest of us are kept in the dark. It does beg the question of why she refrained taking advantage of the 'First Blood Perk', if she had any intention of winning, however. Unless she'd prefer to have as large a body count as she can get away with before this is over-" Kiyo was quick to accuse, but Maki was as quick to cut it off.

"_Don't_ go putting your words in my mouth. But if any of what Sharla said was right, would I be wrong in thinking that way? Take a look at yourselves right now. Let's… Just see what it says." The newly-revealed assassin advised as she gestured to the screen.

It showed an orphanage, much like the one she's referred to in the past, so at least that part of her story was true. He talked about it's connection to a cult that took her in and raised her into who she is today.

How the cult's considering getting rid of the location and trying to 'recruit' all of the kids still there soon if she can't get back to them and continue her missions.

_But for someone who claims to hate children, the images sure do linger on these young round faces like they should matter to her. If they are really what matters most to her in the world maybe that was a lie too. Maybe 'Ultimate Child Caregiver' was just what she wishes she could have been instead of… this._ I thought to myself.

"I'm sorry Maki, I didn't realize things were this bad for you. Do you think you'll be okay?" Kaito's the only one who's concern doesn't miss a beat, but he looked just about as shell-shocked as the rest of us.

"Of course. I'm not stupid. I wouldn't try killing in a killing game, with a talent like mine I'm already suspicious enough as it is. But if someone tries to attack me for this I won't be holding back. Is everyone happy now? Is this what you all wanted?" The assassin asked.

"W-Well, I'm not sure happy is the word, but… yes? Now you can trust us a bit more, you don't need to worry about protecting your lab anymore either. I believe in what you're saying Maki, but I don't think this is the sort of thing anyone would want you dead for. You can't control what you're good at, and if you weren't some sort of Ultimate we wouldn't have met you. We see you care a lot about those kids, and we know you're not heartless. You're still just Maki. And I still want to be friends with you at least-"

Some murmurs around the room sounded like they supported what Kaede was saying, but how genuine they were is hard to tell, given the tensions in the air again and how emotionally exhausted everyone is.

"You really think I'll just buy something like that? You may say these things but it's clear that not everyone's going to see it that way. Isn't that right?" She looks at Kokichi, who has a glare of his own.

"C'mon Maki Roll, have a bit more faith in us than that! Yeah, this is kinda a shock, but that's all it is. Just you wait and see, everything's going to be right back to normal at breakfast tomorrow after everyone's had time to get used to this! I mean it's not like you really did much with the 'Caregiving' thing in the first place, and I at least already had you pegged as a fighter so it's not too bad... Okay, that sounded better in my head. But you get what I'm trying to say right?! We're all just as nervous as you are right now, that's it. And if you need someone to talk to or start having trouble with anything gimme a holler and I'll help."

By the look he gave to the rest of us, it was clear when Kaito said 'having trouble', he meant between her and other people. He looked about ready to take another swing at Kokichi as it was so no one was going to accuse her of anything else now as Tokuko's video started up.

It showed a photo of the actress with her mother after a play. Monokuma speaks about how proud she was for her daughter to pursue an acting career and aim for stardom. But as he spoke of how worried her friends are after she vanished without a trace, the image changed.

Her three friends were panicking and the place was trashed. Monokuma made it seem like they were in danger since Tokuko went missing and mocked her for causing them to suffer like this.

The actress was shaken. "Shozo... Riku... Kokona..."

"Your mother must be fine, right?" I asked. "Monokuma never mentioned her, only your friends."

"O-OK, let's just get the last video over with so I can sleep." The rose-wearing girl advised.

Finally, the last video. I braced myself for what we were about to see as Monokuma sounded afraid to give to this video to me.

It showed us what happened during the Killing God War, including Reyn and Dunban's deaths. It was terrifying to witness their final moments again. The final shot was what sent shivers down my spine.

Both Gita Yamahato and Ajia Ashitomi, two of the Disciples, looking directly at the camera with what the others assumed were Tsumugi and the other four traitors silhouetted behind them.

All of us were terrified after the video was over. Miyuji, on the other hand, had her face turning pale by the final shot.

**"Gita and Ajia were... Disciples..?"** She muttered. "They never told me."

"I'm sorry, Miyuji." I apologized. "I knew you would be in this much pain upon realizing that your own friends were Disciples. That's why I chose to sing 'Never Enough' when you asked. **The pain of the Killing Titan War still lingers within me and the traitors**, I wanted to perform a song that I think could **heal everyone's inner pain**."

The vocalist smiled softly as color returned to her face. "That sounds nice of you, Sharla."

"OK, we all just need some time to get used to this. All of this. Sleep should help us all right now I think. Let's all just meet up at the dining hall in the morning, OK? If anything else needs saying about these motives it can wait till then." Kaede advised.

I wasn't sure what to think about anyone else as I headed to my room and got in bed to get some sleep.

_Here's hoping everyone would be able to get enough sleep tonight. That everyone will be able to show up tomorrow. That everything will be able to stay peaceful again._ I thought to myself as I went to sleep.


	16. Chapter 2: Her Song of P & S - Part 3

Luckily, no one was dead the next morning when I went to the dining hall, I kept to myself thinking about how my performance should go. Afterwards, I decided to head to the gym since that's where the party's most likely to take place.

And sure enough, Miyuji, Tokuko, Kaede, Himiko, Angie, Tenko, Miu, Kokichi, and Kiyo were there.

"Yo, Sharla! Glad you could make it!" Miyuji exclaimed.

"It's not like I had a choice." I snarked. "Anyway, how are you guys setting up?"

"I'm providing outfits for everyone." Tokuko said.

"I'm doing the decorations with Gonta's help!" Angie exclaimed.

"Kirumi, Maki, and Kaito are preparing the food." Himiko said.

"I'm using my golden brain to set up the stage for both yours and Miyuji's performances and Himiko's magic show!" Miu said with pride.

"I am Himiko's assistant for her show." Kiyo muttered.

"Shuichi, Ryoma, and Keebo are helping to find everything needed." Kokichi said.

"Tokuko, Tenko, Miu, and Angie here volunteered to join my performance, which is gonna be kick-ass!" Miyuji shouted.

"And I'm providing the instrumental for your performance, Sharla." Kaede told me.

"I'm guessing Gonta is gonna get the piano from the casino, huh?" I asked.

"Yep. Once everything is set up, we can get this party started!" The pianist responded.

"Hey, hey! Kiyo, can I ask you something real quick?" Kokichi asked.

"What is it?" The anthropologist wondered.

**"Can you take off your mask for the party?"** The supreme leader questioned.

Kiyo's eyes widened in shock. "When did this idea come up?"

"I just figured that it would fit with Himiko's comfort zone." The purple-haired boy said.

"Seriously..?" Himiko asked in dismay.

The anthropologist simply sighed. "Very well. If you insist."

"Anyway, I'm gonna go see how mom is doing." Kokichi said as he left the gym.

"Man, what a prick." Miyuji muttered.

_No kidding, he's more like a lying little bitch to me._ I thought.

"Anyway, I should have outfits for all of you prepared in my room. Come with me." Tokuko said as she urged us to follow her.

We followed her to the Ultimate Actress' Dorm & Research Lab. She walked over to a large collection of different outfits and pulled out a selection of outfits and accessories for us to try.

"Woah! You must've been busy to prepare all of these!" Tenko exclaimed.

"I've gotten lots of ideas for the themes of everyone's performances. I hope these work for you guys." The actress replied.

"What themes did you choose anyway?" I asked.

"Well for Miyuji, Miu, Tenko, Angie, and myself, I have these cool party dresses, one for each of us. Himiko has this suit fit for a mage like herself. And I should have something more comfortable for Kiyo." The rose-wearing girl answered as she showed us the outfits.

"What about me and Kaede?" I questioned.

"Oh! You two have what I consider the best ones! Follow me! The rest of you help prepare for the party."

"Ooh~! Sharla and Kaede must be extremely lucky to have outfits Tokuko claims are the most divine!" Angie exclaimed.

"Luck alone can't be all it takes." Kiyo pointed out. "Besides, I already know what I think would be 'more comfortable'."

_Do I __**want**__ to know? Maybe I should see for myself after Tokuko shows me and Kaede what she'd made for us._ I thought to myself as me and Kaede followed Tokuko.

She lead the two of us to some kind of backstage studio. The actress walked over to a box full of different outfits and pulled out two dresses. One of them was the same purple as Kaede's eyes, it looked nearly floor-length, with ruffles almost like it was meant for a tango on one side, and overall beautiful. The other was black at the top with canary yellow details including two roses on one side on it and the bottom was the same canary yellow with black lace at the bottom with the back of it appearing to reach past knee-length an just above ankle-length, and also overall beautiful.

"Do you like them?" Tokuko asked. "I've been working on these ever since I agreed to make everyone's outfits."

"Of course we do! They look lovely. Thank you, Tokuko." Kaede said.

"Yeah, these are amazing! The details on these are incredible!" I exclaimed.

"Heh, no problem, guys. Sewing is just a hidden talent of mine I have." The actress admitted.

"If Tsumugi was still alive, she'd go nuts over this." Kaede said as she laughed.

The rose-wearing girl returned the laugh. "Yeah, that sounds like something she would do. Anyway, now should be a good time to get ready for the party. The preparations should be almost done by now."

"Already?" I asked in surprise.

"Yeah, I have a dressing room large enough to hold all of us in there. Come on, I have to put on my outfit too."

The three of us went to the dressing room in question and went inside. It was large enough to account for several people. I took off my normal clothing and managed to put on the canary yellow dress. It looked just as beautiful as it did from eye-view alone. I also put on the accessories Tokuko provided with the dress including a pair of black lace leggings, white dress shoes with black heels and canary yellow roses, an black armband with a canary yellow rose on my right arm, black gloves with canary yellow bows and lace, a beautiful silver necklace with yellow gemstones, and a silver headpiece with a canary yellow rose attached to it and a silver rose in the center.

"How do I look?" I asked as I turned around.

"You look amazing, Sharla!" Kaede exclaimed.

The purple dress was just as lovely on the pianist as it did when we first saw it, even the dark purple bow seemed to complement her figure well. The shoes were simple matching heels and she had a white flower hairpin in her hair.

"It definitely fits with the theme of your performance." Tokuko admitted.

She was now wearing a vibrant purple party dress with a ruffled skirt, black transparent fabric over her chest held by a purple choker, a large black ribbon tied around her midriff with a bow with white lace on the ends on the back, black checkered leggings, and vibrant purple party shoes with white heels and equally purple straps around her ankles, a vibrant purple wrist-length glove on her left arm, and three silver bracelets with purple gemstones on them on her right arm.

I smiled. It was time to get this party started.

* * *

At the time the party was going to start at, I headed to the gym to meet up with Tokuko, Kaede, Miyuji, Angie, and Himiko.

Miyuji and Angie were now wearing a red-pink version and yellow version of Tokuko's outfit respectively. Himiko was also wearing some sort of suit now, more like a traditional tuxedo with red details and a longer set of coattails to it. Her trademark witch hat even had a new red ribbon with a gold buckle to match it better, despite its aged and frayed edges contrasting the suit's sleek lines, and her blue hair clip was gone.

Kaede was at the piano near the door preparing the instrumental for my performance. She hardly noticed anyone else. Which was why my appearance managed to startle her so badly that the pianist hit her knee against the underside of said piano.

"N-Nyeh? Are you okay?" Himiko asked.

"Y-Yeah, of course I am! What's going on, sorry I kinda went in my own little world there for a bit." The blonde-haired girl admitted.

"Nah, it's OK. I do it all the time too." The mage responded.

_We've noticed. Not sure you aren't still in it._ I thought.

"Nyahahaha! How cute~!" Angie exclaimed.

"Is everything OK?" Miyuji asked.

"Y-Yeah. Just thought me talking to you guys would be less jarring than Tenko since she's heading this way, sorry." The red-haired girl said.

"Kaede~ And Himiko! What do you think? Isn't this cute~ I feel like a princess!" Tenko sing-songed right on cue, giving a twirl of a curtsy as she did. Not that Himiko was paying her any attention.

It was an elegant blue version of what Tokuko, Miyuji, and Angie were wearing. Her hair was done in a much more understandable set of buns too, tied with little black bows similar to the one large one she normally had.

"It's beautiful on you, Tenko." Kaede said. "I didn't know you'd be so comfortable in that sort of thing. Almost expected you in a suit like Himiko, for mobility or something."

"Yeah, it looks great. And that reminds me…" Himiko began as an oddly serious expression came across her face. "Make fun of Kiyo's clothes and I'll hex you all. I _mean_ it. I'll use my 'every time you sneeze you'll think you'd had an accident' curse and everything, so you better be nice."

"W-What sort of accident?! And what qualifies as 'making fun of' for this? What did he do?!" Tenko asked.

The mage didn't answer the aikido master's question as she ran off to have some words with... Maki? No, the hair isn't long enough to be her. And she isn't anywhere near six feet tall-

Wait... is that... Kiyo?!

_It is quite the relief though, I was worried it'd be something more drastic._ I thought as I looked on at what I was seeing.

Kiyo's definition of 'more comfortable' for the evening was apparently a red _woman's_ kimono with an orange and blue floral pattern, tied with an orange and green scale patterned obi. The mask was off as per Kokichi's petty request, but aside from that and his hands, the dress covered nearly as much as his regular clothing did. His hat was gone but he had taken his odd chain off it's band to use in his hair for now.

"I-I didn't think he would choose _that_!" Tokuko exclaimed.

* * *

A while later, Miyuji, Tokuko, Angie, Tenko, and Miu, who was wearing a bright pink version of the other four's outfits, took to the stage. The vocalist took the mic while the others took the keyboard, drums, bass, and guitar respectively.

_Miyuji seems to really get into this. Then again, she is the Ultimate Vocalist._ I thought to myself.

Miyuji started to sing 'Smoke and Mirrors' with such power, that I was sure that no one could deny her Ultimate talent.

As she sang, I got a good look at the others' outfits. Gonta wore a navy blue suit with his hair tied up in a low ponytail, Kaito wore a standard black and white suit with a galaxy-printed tie, Maki wore a red strapless mermaid dress with crimson heels and her hair was done in a single braid, Keebo wore a simple black and white tux, but he looked less bulky than usual, Kokichi wore a blinding white tux with a matching top hat and he was holding a cane, Kirumi wore a strapless dark purple gown with a black shawl and black diamond heels. Her hair was pinned up in an elegant updo, allowing me to fully see her face, Shuichi was wearing an all-black suit, and Ryoma was wearing a grey suit, a white undershirt, a dark blue vest, a equally dark blue bow tie, and grey dress shoes with black soles. His hat was noticeably absent, leaving his hair fully exposed.

The lights went completely out once Miyuji finished her song with everyone's applause. I took this as my chance to head up onto the stage.

Gripping a microphone in my hand and standing on the top of the setup, I spoke through the darkness. "Everyone, can I have your attention?"

When everyone looked towards the stage, a spotlight shined bright upon me. All of them were clearly surprised to see me wearing what Tokuko made for me since I didn't look like the type of person to wear dresses.

"I've noticed that you all looked disturbed after watching the motive videos." I continued. "So I wanted to sing this song to heal your emotional wounds. Trust me on this."

Kaede took this as her cue to start playing the instrumental. Taking a soft breath, I started to sing 'Never Enough'.

From the looks on everyone's faces, including Miyuji's starry-eyed expression, no one was expecting me to be a great singer. I swore I saw some of them, including Ryoma and Kirumi, were tearing up a bit.

As I went down the stairs of the setup while singing the last few lyrics, everyone was already giving me a standing ovation and it continued even after I finished the song.

I walked off the stage so Himiko's magic show can begin. Miyuji ran up to me with a wide grin on her face.

"Sharla, you were amazing!" She exclaimed.

"Thanks, Miyuji." I replied with a smile. "I wanted to help **heal their emotional wounds from the motive videos**."

"Well, it certainly worked." The vocalist pointed out.

Himiko was as ready as she'd ever be at this point, so she and Kiyo took to her stage. She had Kiyo introduce her and provide almost fairytale-like explanations for everything she'd be doing for the night.

_At least he's speaking normally, that falsetto from before seemed to come out of nowhere._ I thought to myself.

The mage went through an interesting variety, starting with 'Incorporeal Vorpal Blades', an unusual combination of her 'saw in half' trick with a 'disappearing box' act that made it very hard to tell where exactly Kiyo actually was during the performance until it finished.

After a few rounds of that she went to 'Wyrd Maiden' magic, which given the subject did result in some laughs as Kiyo pulled out his falsetto again to play up the title despite Himiko's attempt at giving him a firm pout, starting with the box-of-swords trick that somehow resulted in Kiyo coming out of Himiko's 'witch's brew' that was sitting far off to the side.

They finished up with her take on 'Wingardium Leviosa', where upon the release of her various doves Himiko moved so quickly it was like she disappeared, leaving only her hat in her place. After a few moments when Kiyo hammed it up again while showing everyone that there were no doors in that area the banners above the stage began to move, showing Himiko proudly standing between the columns up above them to everyone's applause.

Too bad they hadn't actually sorted out for her to get back down though as she began looking around, rubbing the back of her neck like she forgot what she was supposed to be doing, which got some laughs from those who thought it was part of the show as Kiyo and Tenko mimed to her where to go.

When she was back safely on the ground, she asked if it would be okay to run off to the restroom for a bit now that her show was done. Kaede went back to playing for the night as Gonta released the various breeds of fireflies and beetles he collected that would each release their own pleasant glow as they took off to the night sky.

_It looked like Himiko was practicing how to use Ether in the meantime to prepare for this night. I'm proud of her._ I thought to myself.

I didn't think anything was wrong until Tenko went to see what was taking Himiko so long to get back, given how smoothly everything had went. Even then that was easy to forget about, I couldn't be sure how long the aikido master was gone looking. It wasn't until she came back looking terrified and asking for help that something was clearly wrong, so me and those closest to the door followed her to where the mage had been going last.

When me, her, Miyuji, Tokuko, Kaede, Kiyo, and Angie made to the bathroom door, the dreaded announcement's chime began to sound.

And once we entered the girls bathroom we saw...

Himiko Yumeno was dead on the floor... blood seeping from her neck with a lifeless stare.

With that, the killing game began again. Despite our best efforts, it was time to begin a new investigation.

* * *

**(A/N: A poll is now open on my profile, you can decide which two exclusive gym leaders from Pokémon Sword and Shield will appear in this story's prequel, Killing God Havoc! Will it be Bea and Gordie from Sword, Allister and Melony from Shield, or some combination of both games? You decide! Voting ends when the next part is released!)**


	17. Chapter 2: Her Song of P & S - Part 4

**(A/N: OK, the poll didn't out as I planned, so after asking WulfyRoxas about it during a Twitch stream, I've decided to put Bea and Allister in Killing God Havoc. Melony will also make an appearence since I wanted a representive from all eight gyms. Anyway, can you put together the pieces behind Himiko's murder?)**

**...**

**Begin Deadly Life**

"Why did this have to happen?" Kaede asked to no one in particular, giving voice to the similar thoughts the rest of us had.

Even Kiyo was less composed than he normally was, unlike when Rantaro died, as he was the first to go into the room itself and closed Himiko's eyes. He gave the wound on her neck an unreadable glance but chose to leave the body otherwise as is, so the others would be able to see how she was when they found her.

"H-Hey you pervert, that's the _girls_ room-" Tenko objected before cuting herself off, which seemed to be out of nerves and habit more than anything as the Monokubs' murder file being available was enough of a sign that Kiyo wasn't the first guy to 'trespass' today. And unlike any of the cubs expect Monophanie, he at least looked the part right now.

"Do we really have time for that bloody nonsense right now?" Tokuko asked. "He was just providing her some respects in sense that makes sense to anyone."

"Are we sure this is the scene of the crime? I think everyone else was still outside when this happened." Kaede asked, taking in how spotless everything in the room was aside from the obvious.

"We'll all just need to gather up alibis then to double check then! I'll get to it~" Angie said as went off to rejoin the others.

_How can Angie stay so chipper after Himiko just... Weren't they friends? Or is this cheerful attitude just an act right now?_ I thought to myself.

"Hey, Sharla..."

I turned to face Miyuji, who had tears building in her eyes.

"Before this... we were having a great time, right..? We were recovering from the motive videos... We... were having a lot of fun... But... why..." She muttered as tears streamed down her cheeks. "WHY DID SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPEN?! Someone, tell me!"

"Miyuji..." I said. "It's gonna be OK, we'll find who did this."

I walked up to where Kiyo was and took a look at the back of Himiko's corpse. Sure enough, a small puncture wound was there with blood seeping out.

"The apparent cause of death is a **puncture wound to the back of the neck**, but the Monopad is being rather vague on how exactly it killed her, only proving she died a few minutes ago." Kiyo explained "Given how she was touching the area after the show ended it could have happened around then and simply needed more time to start bleeding out like this, as I don't recall her hands being bloody when Miss Chabashira and I asked what caused her confusion prior to her leaving. It wasn't like her to lose focus mid-act like that."

_'Miss Chabashira' is oddly formal for him to use, isn't it?_ I off-handily thought before asking "Could she have been injected with something during the show? Normally voids of information there can give some sort of clue to what happened, right?"

"How can you both be so calm about this?!" Himiko's-" Tenko was nearly screaming at us, as her attempts to keep herself from crying and stay calm despite the current situation quickly began wearing down.

"That's why we need to focus right now Tenko! I… I know it's hard, but we need to put off grieving for later. When we'll have more time to do it right and no one else's life is in danger." Kaede said, trying to calm her down along with Miyuji and Tokuko.

It was around that point the others who arrived started making themselves known, bustling about trying to find any clues here regarding the current condition of Himiko's body. No traces of anything that could have been used to hurt her could be found, no mirrors broken or even the floor so much as scuffed.

As the stage was our best bet for the crime scene, that's where our efforts became redirected, much to Kokichi's frustration.

_Reduces the likelihood of anyone else getting hurt tonight this way._ I thought to myself.

Me, Miyuji, Tokuko, Kaede, Kiyo, Kokichi, Maki, and Miu were in charge of investigating the upper level where Himiko must've been hurt. Meanwhile, everyone else checked the stage area for anything suspicious and Angie and Shuichi flitted about between them gathering alibis.

There wasn't too much up here to be found, it's mostly just dust and a system of pulleys that I assumed was installed by Himiko with Miu and Gonta's help hidden behind the banners that Angie made. I assumed that they were put up to hide the source of Himiko's 'magic'.

_Could something have gotten caught in them and hit her by accident on the way up during her 'Wingardium Leviosa' act?_ I thought.

"Well, what do you know, youse guys even bothered ta spruce up like an actual court'd like for a change."

It was Monosuke who said that and Monophanie who appeared before them, as if out of nowhere. From the ruckus on the other side of the canvas sheets, it sounded like Monokid was loudly bullying Monodam again while Monotaro tries to interfere down below too.

"It's a shame this had to happen, but I least I didn't have to see any nasty bodies this time. Seeing Daddy's before was bad enough as it was. But... wasn't there trouble somewhere else too tonight?" Monophanie wondered, unaware of what was happening now.

Miu's stress from before came back with a vengeance as she verbally lashed back. "Dah fuck you talkin' about? If you mean you guys messing with my shop then yeah, duh!"

"Huh? Nonnuva us did anything like that you sleazy broad! Not our fault **one of your 'buddies' tried offin' ya earlier**, yaknow. We're not the ones makin' you unpopular here, that's all on you toots." Monosuke sniped back, which made the inventor flinch in panic.

"W-What?! Is that what you think that was, **a murder attempt**?" Kaede asked in fear.

"I hardly see why any of us should put stock into what you are claiming, by all accounts I've heard it seemed more like a form of sabotage was the goal." Kirumi muttered. "However as I feel it must be asked now, what exactly would have happened had **two murders** happened tonight? It's an unusual notion, in a game where only one death is needed and this could just end up leaving more evidence to be used against you."

"Uhh, let's see… if one person commits both murders then it's pretty fuckin' obvious how that goes down. But if the murders ain't related I think Pops said somethin' in the past about usin' a **'first come, first served' rule** this time around." The yellow bear explained. "Not exactly how it usually is but should be interestin' enough to spice things up a bit. If two different folks kill anyone before a trial starts, **only the case's first murderer counts as 'the blackened'** so the second one can't be found guilty or graduate. And only the actual first one, not whichever victim is found first, ya dig? And as it's related ta this it don't matta if more than one person worked on the same crime, only the one who got literal blood on their hands is open to graduation."

_They're talking as if this sort of killing game has been played before. What is this supposed to mean?_ I thought to myself.

"Interesting. And this all applies no matter any other circumstances in any particular, no?" Kiyo asked, looking more troubled by this news.

"Yup! It wouldn't be fair for rules to only apply some of the time right? Best to keep it simple."

"Wow~ Thanks for letting us know that. Now can you two just get lost already? Go pretend to be useful somewhere else, like visit your worthless brothers okay? Or better yet, go and join your dad instead!" With Kokichi's taunting words the two left in a huff to join their still bickering siblings down the ladder so the rest of us went back to work.

The supreme leader was looking for any scrapes along the walls and two barred windows, Miu was brushing around the floor around the footprints Himiko left in the dust on the ground behind the four supporting columns, and Kiyo and Kirumi were working on getting the banners down, to look for any tears that may be related to what hit Himiko and better expose any issues the pulley system may have to everyone.

It wasn't clear what Maki was doing, but she was intently fiddling with one of the hooks that should have gone around the loop on the back of Himiko's coat. With not a drop of blood to be found, it was hard to tell this really was the place where the mage's fatal injury initially happened, so I went down to see if anyone else was having better luck finding something.

With the way the despair bears were fighting it sure didn't look like it. Monosuke had taken away Monokid's guitar, Monophanie desperately trying to referee, and the blue bear was still in the middle of making various dents in the green colored plating on Monodam.

Angie was apparently rather enthralled by the drama before her, egging on the situation with the childish chant of "Fight! Fight! Fight!", which would explain why she wasn't done taking statements yet.

Kaito was trying to round up the doves best he could with birdseed and the like, to make sure none of them were injured or had any other sort of evidence on them, as Keebo checked out the various 'weapons' used in her acts but all of their blades were sufficiently fake enough to rule them out.

Gonta and Ryoma were looking into the pulley system, checking for knots or snags that may have made one of the hooks possibly hit Himiko as she was being released in the upper area.

_There's a __**bit of blood on one and the wire from this angle**__, maybe that's what Maki's attention caught onto._ I thought.

"Angie, if you can't handle it, why don't you let Shuichi take over with the alibis? After all, I had to see everyone tonight anyway to get them dressed up, so he can already take that into account as he sees about the ones topside OK?" Tokuko advised.

"Oh, huh? Okie-dokie~ We don't really need to take Kaede's do we? She was just sitting at her piano the whole time, even when she wasn't playing it, so she was too far from anything to be a suspect, right?" The artist obliged.

"That's right." Shuichi agreed. "We all saw her there and she didn't have anything to do with the show's set up so it should be OK."

Like Tokuko advised, Shuichi took control of gathering everyone's alibis for the night. I took this chance to check Miu's research lab. It might not be related to the trial, but the way that the Monokubs brought it up, it might be a clue.

Once I got inside with Kaede, Miyuji, Tokuko, Gonta, and Keebo, everything looked like it it was left untouched with the exception of a few things.

While a lot of the equipment still looked dangerous, there wasn't any blood here at least. One of the normal hammers attached to the odd long-armed multi-tool was badly damaged as if targeted by mistake, even though none of the other attachments were so much as dented. The syringe I vaguely recall seeing on another arm is missing though, leaving the stump it was on before bare.

On the surrounding tables, various bits of the magenta side paneling was torn up, almost looking like an off-color mockery of the purple and white butterfly wallpaper around them. The series of glass vials and beakers were also smashed on the checkered floor, along with whatever liquids were in them at the time of the incident.

_So we won't be able to ask Miu if anything in particular is missing here I guess. The real goal may have been to steal something and then destroy everything to help cover it up, if a syringe and possibly some chemicals have gone missing. But I don't even know what any of these substances would __**do**__._ I thought.

That was all the six of us had time to look in here however, as the Monokubs announced it was time for the class trial.

All of us went into the elevator in the Shrine of Judgement, and we began the plummet down to the trial room.

Once we arrived, I noticed there were now nineteen podiums surrounding each other and Monokuma's chair was replaced by five judge's chairs decorated to fit each of the Monokubs where they placed themselves.

All of us went to our podiums with Miyuji taking the one between Maki and Angie and Tokuko taking the one between Miu and Shuichi.

As I got onto my podium, an image of Himiko's body flashed in my mind.

_Himiko died thinking nothing was wrong when there was._ I thought to myself.

An image of the bloodied hook flashed in my mind.

_**Someone had the chance during her show to kill her...**__ The question is who..?_

Like the first trial, images of everyone in this academy flashed in my mind.

_I'm certain they __**aren't one of the four remaining traitors**__, in fact I'm sure of it! Still, whoever it is won't get away with this... not on my watch. Looks like there's a **new mastermind running this game** but I can't focus on that now... I have to focus on exposing the culprit in this trial of truth and lies!_


	18. Chapter 2: Her Song of P & S - Part 5

**Class Trial - IN SESSION**

**...**

I looked around to see there were two new memorial photographs where Tsumugi and Himiko once stood. While Rantaro's face was covered with a normal looking 'X', the seamstress' was a bit thinner. Himiko's picture was placed much lower than the other two as if she was still here watching from her podium. Her face crossed out with one normal straight line and one that was an oddly crooked squiggle.

_Perhaps they're meant to look like a magician's wand and a 'real' one?_ I thought to myself.

"LET'S-BEGIN-WITH-A-BASIC-EXPLANATION-OF-THE-CLASS-TRIAL." Monodam began.

"During the trial you'll present your arguments for who the culprit is, and vote for 'whodunnit'." Monotaro explained.

"If you vote correctly then only the blackened will receive punishment." Monophanie continued.

"But if youse choose the wrong person... We'll punish everyone except the blackened, and they'll earn the right to leave this academy!" Monosuke exclaimed.

"And refusin' to vote will result in your fuckin' death, so you bitches better vote for someone!" Monokid warned.

"NOW, LET'S-GET-THIS-TRIAL-UNDERWAY!" Monodam finished.

Kirumi was the first to speak up. "**Do we even know for sure there was a murderer for this case?** Himiko was found dead alone in the bathroom, with everyone else present and accounted for at the party. It could have been some manner of suicide, could it not?"

Tenko visibly recoiled at this suggestion, and even the glance Kiyo gave the maid had a bit more ice to it than normal. I doubted that Himiko would do something like that.

_Especially since she's not the one whose motive video encouraged it._ I thought.

"What are you talking about, what good reason would Himiko have to do something like that?!" The aikido master shouted.

Ryoma nodded in agreement. "Himiko **knew she had people waiting for her outside** and she just finished a pretty good show, nothing about her indicated she was in the sort of place mentally for this either."

"Guess you would be the one to know _all_ about that, eh Ryoma?" Kokichi mockingly asked.

"You're not helping right now, so shut your mouth or I'll bloody do it for you." Tokuko scolded.

"I checked the body too, there weren't any sorts of weapons or nearby debris that Himiko could have used to do this to herself." Maki explained. "It was a small clean incision around the back of her neck, at a fairly unnatural angle for someone to have caused it themselves as the only tearing goes directly upwards. Unless you want to doubt my credibility now?"

"Maki's background in this sort of thing makes what she said fairly reliable. But how else could she have **died in the bathroom by herself**?" Shuichi muttered. "Everyone was at the party like Kirumi said, I checked it myself. Aside from Tenko at least, from when she went to get Himiko from the restroom."

"H-Hey, what are you trying to imply there?!" Tenko asked. "I'd _never_ hurt Himiko, I wanted to protect her more than anything and you all know that! Besides, Kiyo's the one who started messing around with the body before Maki had a chance to check it, isn't that more suspicious?!"

"She's right, that is mighty suspicious. Mr. Doubtfire, why you getting handsy with a corpse in the ladies' room anyway, stiffs give you a stiffy or something?" Miu asked.

_That wasn't a mental image I needed!_ I off-handily thought.

"I did nothing of the sort, all I did was close her eyes after I checked for a pulse and couldn't find one." Kiyo explained. "I understand actions done out of respect or supposedly common decency may be rather foreign to you but that's all this was. Her eyes didn't appear to be bloodshot or otherwise unusual given her state so I thought it wouldn't be terribly out of line to spare the others the sight of her looking that... unnatural."

"Gonta understand, Gonta often do similar things for animals he finds bugs living in. Makes them less sad to look at. Already hard to see someone... Small like Himiko hurt so badly, so Gonta thanks Kiyo." The entomologist responded.

_That is a bit odd. I mean Maki or Gonta having experience with corpses makes sense with their talents, by creating them or the various bugs related to forensic work and all, but why __**would**__ Kiyo get involved?_ I thought.

_Was it just sentimentality considering he 'checked for a pulse' __**after**__ we triggered the announcement? Besides, it looked more like he was looking at the injury on her neck than that to me. While he may be lying, I doubt there's any real chance he was involved with this, as he'd be the obvious prime suspect. Suspicious actions notwithstanding it'd already be incredibly easy for someone to try and frame him._

"Yeah. Besides, Angie, Tenko, Tokuko, Miyuji, and I were all watching him, that's really all he did, honest. I don't think she was really attacked in the bathroom anyway." Kaede admitted.

"Like when, during the show? Wouldn't that make a certain sorceress's apprentice more suspicious?" Kokichi wondered.

_Kokichi's probably having the same thoughts I was. Of course he'd realize parts of what Kiyo said was a lie, he wouldn't have even needed to have been there like I was to manage that with his experience. At least he's helping Kaede with her white lie enough to redirect our discussion to what really matters here._ I thought to myself.

"Am I now? You were all watching us, when could I have possibly had the opportunity to do such a thing?" Kiyo asked. "For most of the acts I was the one having the various 'blades' pointed at my person as I recall, and I certainly never handled any of them much less had any directed at Miss Yumeno."

Then I heard Tokuko say the contradiction I was looking for.

"But you were **the only one close enough** to her to do anything, weren't you?"

**"No, that's wrong!"** I shouted as I pointed a finger at Tokuko.

"Huh? Something up, Sharla?" The actress asked in confusion.

"It's just like Kirumi said, **not if this case doesn't have a killer**." I explained. "It would draw too much attention to himself if Kiyo did anything to Himiko there, so I highly doubt he's the true culprit."

"If that's true, did something happen during the show that could easily been an accident, couldn't it?" Miyuji wondered.

"Yeah, it could totally be an accident! But who would we even vote for if that's the case?" Kaito asked.

_Kaito really wants this to be true, doesn't he? It'd be nice if one of us wasn't actually a murderer this time around, but that is a rather dangerous question to have. I wouldn't want to have to execute one of my friends over something they didn't mean to do in the first place, unlike the... premeditated murder we faced before. But it looks like the Monokubs have something to say about this now, more new rules?_ I thought.

"**THEN-BLAME-WOULD-GO-TO-WHOEVER-LEAD-TO-THE-ACCIDENT**. THE-BLACKENED-IS-WHO-DIRECTLY-CAUSES-THE-DEATH. THIS-ALSO-APPLIES-IF-MULTIPLE-STUDENTS-WORK-TOGETHER-FOR-A-MURDER-OR-ASSISTED-SUICIDE." Monodam explained.

"No one asked you, can o'crap! Why not you just keep shit quiet to make things more interesting, huh?!" Monokid yelled.

"BECAUSE-THAT-IS-NOT-FAIR. THIS-IS-A-GAME. HOW-CAN-EVERYONE-GET-ALONG-AND-PLAY-TOGETHER-IF-WE-DO-NOT-TELL-THEM-ALL-OF-THE-RULE-WHEN-THEY-ASK? SHOULDN'T-WE-BE-HELPING-THEM?" The green bear asked.

"We don't need these dumbasses to 'get along' to play along, you idiot! We already proved that." The blue bear replied

"Hey now, come on there's no need to be so harsh on him! He's not doing anything wrong and it would make things run easier to just answer broad questions like that anyway, right?" Monophanie said.

"Yeah, you heard the lady! Knowin' the rules could also help give some of these kids some more creative ideas ya'know? This could still be plenty interestin' to see if this helps set anythin' into motion later." Monosuke agreed.

"I dunno, when you say it like that now, it does sound pretty ominous. Especially since you told them some of the side rules yourself awhile ago." Monotaro pointed out.

"YOU DID WHAT NOW?!" Monokid yelled. "COME ON MAN, I THOUGHT YOU HAD MY BACK HERE-"

"Would you keep your bloody traps shut?!" Tokuko shouted.

"At least they gave us some info to keep in mind." Miyuji admitted.

Kaito got the discussion back on track. "If it has to be who triggered the accident, then the 'culprit' in that case would have to be Himiko, yeah? She was the one activating everything."

_Something as innocent as an accident would still be a welcome relief, __**but there's something too sinister here to truly believe it could be the case this time**__. The timing of it was too unfortunate for that._ I thought.

"We don't know it has to be an accident yet. We still got a ways to go before we can prove that for sure." Ryoma muttered. "If someone sabotaged a trick then even if Himiko triggered it the blame still lies on **the one who knowingly made it lethal** right?"

"They wouldn't need to have knowingly done it but yeah, basically." Shuichi agreed. "If it wouldn't have been lethal otherwise, **whoever changed it enough to make it deadly directly caused the murder to happen**."

"That means **Gonta, Ryoma, Angie, Miu, or Himiko have to have done it**, right?" Tokuko wondered. "**It's now clear that this was done to frame the person who was helping Himiko with her show**, if Himiko didn't cause her death that is, so it can't be me, Sharla, Miyuji, Kiyo, or Tenko, right?"

"What?! Why me? I just helped with Rock Star's performance and one trick on Himiko's show, that's it!" Miu shouted. "The boys and Artsy Fartsy here are the ones who actually set everything up and Drama Queen made the outfits. And why are we ruling out Tencrotch anyway? She could've totally snapped when she realized Himiko obviously wasn't interested in those sort of wet 'n wild activities you know. She probably didn't even like girls that way given how she acted when she thought you were-"

It was hard to tell if Tenko was more angered or upset at this accusation, given the tears streaming down her pained face as she objected. "I'd never do such a thing! My feelings for Himiko are-"

"Creepy, obnoxious, and annoying, believe me we _all_ know. Honestly name one time Himiko was ever alright with that particular sort of 'attention' anyway, since she'd ignore you sooo much." Kokichi mocked. "It's really not a stretch to assume the local crazy stalker bitch flipped her shit over being slighted one too many times and planned to frame it on the most obviously 'degenerate' male we've got in hopes of getting out of here."

Tenko looked nearly heartbroken at the supreme leader's words. She clearly hadn't realized how she could be coming across before now and to see it made so bare was deeply disquieting. The fact the others could be heard murmuring their agreements with his view of her relationship with Himiko, or even just that she was this 'annoying' overall because of her repeated sexist accusations and actions hardly helped ease her mind.

Surprisingly enough it was Kiyo to come to her defense, speaking behind his hand again as if he were reaching to touch the brim of his hat but remembered it was gone midway through the action.

"I'm fairly certain that title would be more fitting for you, but I must disagree. Tenko wasn't nearly involved enough in the show to be considered a suspect for this, and most of her time was spent with Kaede, yes?" He explained. "Regardless of the attacks you just made against her character, which I'm also inclined to disagree with given the sort of person we know her to be. She hardly noticed Himiko's lack of interest in the first place, much less be angered by it, and her nature better suits going after a perceived rival like say Angie directly rather than turning on the object of her affections and blaming someone at random."

"Who's side are you even on right now?! It wasn't like that-" The aikido master's attempt at defending herself was quickly interrupted by Angie's support, as it was clear a third party's testimony would have more credible weight in this matter.

"Indeed, Indeed, and besides Himiko didn't _hate_ her or anything. We three spent the night of the motive video viewing together and all got along simply splendidly!" The artist exclaimed. "Even if some of our comments made Himiko uncomfortable, but that was both of our faults really. I'm sure it was just a bit of culture clash-"

"This isn't the issue here at all, we proved Tenko couldn't be a part of this so stop losing focus!" Kaede responded. "Who of the ones helped set up the show have the most solid alibis?"

_This conversation's obviously doing Tenko more harm than good. I'll have to help her later to make sure everything's OK._ I thought to myself.

"Gonta went to Tokuko's room to get the suit she made for him. And no one really saw Miu until after she came in from the attack in her lab, which after that point she was mostly with me. Ryoma and Angie are easily the most accounted for of the bunch as most of their time was spent together where I could see them." Shuichi explained.

"Gonta was helping outside with Angie and Ryoma whole time, honest!" The entomologist exclaimed. "Gonta no tell lies. Gentlemen no do that."

"Must've been when you were up helping set up the pulley system, big guy." Kaito said. "Ryoma told me you were in charge of most of the climbing there, and Tokuko wouldn't be able to see you through the window at that angle. We don't even know which act was the one that hurt Himiko yet, so out of our options-"

"What trick was used to hurt Himiko then?!" Tenko asked in a panic.

_She's really distraught, Kaito couldn't even finish what he was saying._ I thought.

_Could it have been the Incorporeal Vorpal Blades, if one of the blades got free or nicked her? _

_No that isn't it, they're too obvious. There would be more evidence if any got close enough to hit her neck and most can't even stab well. That would make more sense if Kiyo had been the victim here, not Himiko. _

_What about the Wyrd Maiden trick? _

_No, that had mostly Kiyo as the subject too and nothing about it really fits. So that leaves-_

"I got it! It has to be **the Levitation trick**!" I exclaimed.

"I can agree with that. With how it knocked her hat off, there is a high probability that could be related to something hitting her neck. The lifting involved could also explain the upper tearing Maki noted before." Shuichi theorized.

"Was the disorientation she displayed after that point not part of the show then?" Kirumi wondered. **"That was about the time she started rubbing at her neck and was the last act she performed before going to the restroom."**

The maid was clearly bothered by the idea she and the others had been so quick to write off the possible signs of an injury. Given the sort of jobs she's likely done that would be an unusual oversight for her to make. Particularly towards someone who looks like the sort of little kid she might have needed to nanny. Gonta also started sniffling again at the reminder of how he and Tenko failed to protect her.

"So that would make the most likely to be involved... Miu for helping with the mechanisms of the pulleys, Gonta for being the one largely responsible for setting it up, and Angie for covering it with her banners, correct?" Keebo asked, though most of his attention was focused on Angie of his three suspects.

"What?! Me again? C'mon Keebo, you know me better than that! I'd never make this sort of rookie mistake like overlook something dangerous!" Miu loudly objected. "I wasn't even _that_ involved beyond setting up the weight and height stuff to fit her specifically, to make sure it'd lift Himiko the right way consistently and do it fast enough to fool the eye without risking making her sick or giving her whiplash or anything."

"Aww, why you suspect Angie too? Atua would never forgive her if she got involved with something like this you know, no matter how merciful He is." Angie muttered as her expression turned dark.

"You were oddly insistent about hanging the banners up early, even before the paint had a chance to dry. No one was really out there looking at what would be going on behind the scenes so we didn't need to risk your work like that." Ryoma answered. "And with how little blood was at the scene there could have been some sort of poison on whatever struck Himiko. Ya'know. Like some paints or other art supplies of yours have in 'em."

I closed my eyes as I thought to myself.

_I think I know who did this now, but there's still a question I want to have answered first. We've touched on it a few times already but we never sorted out __**who actually went into Miu's lab and destroyed her projects**__. We don't even know if it was a part of a murder attempt on her or not yet, that could be related to this case. Or if not it could possibly be connected to the new mastermind in general._

"It doesn't have to be paint you know, **some of the chemicals Miu had in her lab might've gone missing too**." I pointed out. "Not to mention at least **one syringe was also missing**. Whoever attacked Miu's lab might have done it to **get something to help them in their murder plan and pin it on Angie**."

"That's true. Perhaps they destroyed Miu's projects in order to hide their theft, with all the spilled liquids and broken beakers on the floor, it would be easier to hide if anything was taken. I'm not sure even Miu would be able to tell us what is or isn't there at this point." Miyuji added.

"Assuming they weren't just trying to ya'know KILL ME. Which they coulda, how should we know if we can't figure out who here did it and have them explain themselves." Miu said.

"Gonta not sure why anyone would want Miu dead, Miu good person!" Gonta exclaimed.

The statement would have probably been more comforting had it not made a lot of her other 'friends' look noticeably uncomfortable, awkwardly agreeing like there was a problem that was being left unsaid. Not that Gonta was wrong as much as he just glossed over how obviously unpopular the inventor is as a person. Little wonder why, given how often her humor turns crude and her random rudeness towards others.

"It could have been because of the 'EMProject' I was having her work on." Kaede theorized. "Those hammers she showed in the dining hall were meant to be Electro Magnetic Pulse generators we could have used to help neutralize the Exisals or get through the obstacles we faced during our earlier attempts at the Death Road of Despair. To see if there really was an exit at the end we could use to escape together."

The room went quiet again at that. After how badly things went there before it makes sense no one really wanted to consider that as an option to leave the killing game. Most of us wrote it off as nothing but a false hope made to mock them, given how even the athletically inclined among us couldn't even keep their bearings on such slick surfaces, much less try to avoid the irregular and hard to predict obstacles. I didn't go with them so I knew it might not help much and Miyuji and Tokuko had no idea what the pianist was talking about.

"Oh come on Kaede, is _that_ lie really the best you can do? Even if the syringe was taken we don't know if anything else there _is_ missing and Kirumi's lab makes potentially toxic cleaning supplies easily available to everyone anyway with a _lot_ less fuss." Kokichi mocked. "Not to mention you two have been keeping this a secret so well you know there's only really one person who could have tried taking advantage of a motive like that. You didn't really think I'd let you make us lose focus like that with everyone's lives on the line, riiiight?"

_No, I guess not. Not if you think both crimes were committed by the same person, not the new mastermind. Guess I still can't target them here yet. I'm sorry Tsumugi, you'll need to wait a little bit longer for us._ I thought to myself.

**...**

**Class Trial - INTERMISSION**


	19. Chapter 2: Her Song of P & S - Part 6

**Class Trial - RESUME**

**...**

Me and Kaede knew Kokichi was right. There was no one else who could've done this.

The only thing the new mastermind could've done was the destruction of Miu's lab, but even then it wouldn't explain the range of damage.

Miu must've done at least part of it herself before telling anyone else about it.

"R-Right. I'm sorry **Miu, but you're the only one who had the time to set things up this well**." Kaede sadly said.

"The damage you did to your lab was to **make it look like you were also supposed to have been a victim earlier**, and if we found the needle-like modifications to the hook you made, you could claim someone **stole the syringe it comes from and put it on there to frame you**." I explained. "Isn't that right, Maki?"

Miu's face had gone completely white as the others cycled between her and the assassin for answers.

"Yes. While I couldn't find blood on the outside of the hook there was **something oddly hollow** about it that inclined me to think some **slow-acting drug** could be involved, which could have lead to **the way Himiko bled out afterward and help cover the injection point**." Maki theorized. "It looked like all it would need to activate was **enough pressure being applied** to it. Most likely made to be Himiko's weight, so it would trigger **only when it was being used to lift her and then retract afterward**."

Keebo took the moment to step in, incensed to hear Miu being accused like this.

_Even though he brought her up before, I suppose it makes sense he wouldn't want to believe it. None of us really do after all._ I thought to myself.

"Then how do we know it wasn't done by someone else?" The robot asked. "Kokichi hardly has any alibis during this frame of time either, he could have easily been a part of this-"

Kaito was the one to cut down his argument, much to the supreme leader's surprise.

"How could he when that was her job, Keebo? Not even Ryoma or Gonta worked on that part, it was too intricate for them. Yeah, we don't know where he was and he lies his ass off like it's nobody's business but we do know he had to have been in the school the whole time." He exclaimed. "Someone would have noticed if he went out to make his way to Miu's lab. Especially Miu herself, where else could she have been but there? Besides, we all saw his motive video: He doesn't let his friends commit _any_ violent crimes so why the hell should we think he'd be willing to go the extra mile to outright murder? It doesn't make sense."

Kokichi's face twitched a little, almost like he was hoping the others would forget a detail like that. Which means the astronaut's observation is likely right on the money, despite his blind faith in others based on his emotional 'logic' like this being able to easily lead him astray.

_But this is a good thing, isn't it? Unless Kokichi was planning on giving false confessions in hopes of drawing out a real murderer later._ I thought to myself. _That does sound like the sort of stunt he'd pull trying to make it sound like he was just trying to 'make the game more interesting'-_

_Which means he can't keep saying he thinks this 'game' is fun anymore._

_I see, that's what he's mad about. He can't play the 'bad guy' as well as he could before now, we know too much for it to work like he'd want it to._

I then heard Kaede's voice speak up to continue Kaito's momentum.

"I don't think Miu would have done this out of nowhere. Someone else could have broken into her lab and destroyed at least the EMProject, to keep us from being able to escape the killing game or so we'd be more comfortable with the idea of just trying to live here peacefully or something." The pianist theorized. "It doesn't make sense to me that she'd start on something like this only to destroy it herself, you know? She didn't need to help me, after we saw what a bad idea the Death Road could be and how dangerous the Exisals are."

"With her last best chance of safely leaving with all of us gone then you think she just snapped? You think her projects outside really mean that much to her, more than any of us? I thought she and Keebo were closer than that-" Ryoma couldn't even finish his thought as Miu's patience finally broke.

Her hair was completely down at this point, flowing around her as wild as the rest of her. There was an unmistakable intensity to her eyes as she started spouting half-assed objections like anything she said in this state would be able to convince us otherwise.

"SHUT UP YOU HALF-PINT, YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME! GET OFF YOUR LITTLE SOAP BOX AND SAY THAT TO MY FACE LIKE A FUCKIN' MAN. WHY WOULD I EVER HAVE EVEN WANTED TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS HUH? GET REAL! **WHAT COULD I POSSIBLY THINK IS MORE VALUABLE THAN HIMIKO'S FUCKING LIFE, OR YOURS, OR EVERYONE ELSE'S HERE RIGHT NOW?!**"

I closed my eyes as I thought to myself.

_That's an easy one. You said before you thought your projects could be used 'to help the world', right?_

_I'm sure even your 'while you sleep' series would be able to make those in comas, narcoleptics, or even those simply paralyzed, be able to feel they could be just as productive to society as anyone else. So others wouldn't be able to claim they could be a burden to anyone, or think less of them because of whatever conditions they had. And no one else but you would care about finishing your legacy, right?_

_I'm sorry, Miu._

_I'm sorry that I couldn't stop you from doing what you did._

_I'm sorry I need to do this._

"As an inventor, why wouldn't we believe your life's work would be so important to you?" I asked. "Not for the sake of yourself, but for those you wanted to help with them. Especially if you knew no one else would think of the ways to improve their lives like you could, and your attempt to help us here was treated like this."

Those words were enough for all of Miu's fury to cave in on itself, as if she had been stripped bare of any armor she could have used to protect herself. There weren't any anime-eques power suits that could have saved her from the truth they reached. She was just a teenage girl sobbing in a bright pink party dress.

"I see. And with an opportunity like this it would be easy to try and lead us into suspecting this was merely an accident, or lay the blame on someone else involved with Himiko's magic tricks." Kirumi muttered. "I can imagine how having a motive like this would make the temptation hard to resist, with the hope Kaede entrusted to you shattered by someone else so cruelly. I can sympathize with thinking you are putting the needs of others before yourself in such a way. This must have been hard for you, all things considered."

"But why did it have to be Himiko?"

To our surprise, it wasn't Tenko to ask the question on all of our minds, but Keebo's broken voice. He looked so defeated right now, like he might fall apart. Like he'd been crying as much as Gonta, Tenko, or Miyuji if he had the physical ability to, but simply didn't. But the Monokubs didn't let Miu answer.

"Oh come on! That doesn't fuckin' matter right now, doesn't it? It sounds like you bitches finished up the exciting parts, so let's see how you bastards did!" Monokid exclaimed.

"It's... **VOTING TIME**!" All five of the Monokubs shouted in unison.

Against Keebo's objections and Miu's surprisingly silent acceptance, we all did just that.

Once everyone voted, the voting machine made itself known, showing the results.

The votes for Miu were nearly unanimous. But only nearly. One vote for Kiyo stood out, but a cursory glance around the room made it clear to see who's vote that was.

The anthropologist was the only one who wasn't confused about it after all. He almost looked satisfied with those results.

_Why? He had no issues with voting for who we thought was the true culprit last time, didn't he? Even Keebo still voted for Miu and he was always rather bothered by her loud and crass attitude anyway, so Kiyo shouldn't be against voting for her personally. Is he just blaming himself for not protecting Himiko? She had made an effort to 'protect' him first. But is that really something he'd do?_ I thought to myself.

Then the verdict machine rolled into view. It came to life as the lights spun around the wheel with all of our faces on them, of the potential 'blackened', before it landed on Miu's pixelated face. Coins rushed out as if in celebration, as if only two people dying was a good reason for it.

Miu Iruma, the Ultimate Inventor, killed Himiko Yumeno, the Ultimate Magician, and none of us knew why.

**...**

**Class Trial - ALL RISE**

**...**

"It wasn't like I… She wasn't my first choice. At first, I was thinkin', I might have even tried using what was left of my hammers on… On Keebo, you know? B-Because there is no way in hell his papa would be letting an AI this advanced go around without any backups or anything, right?! Or if not make sure there was like a backup brain battery somewhere so after the body announcement or the trial was done maybe there'd still be a way I could fix him up, so that I wouldn't have really killed him or anything. Just… Everyone else."

Miu was still crying as she struggled to explain. Her voice shaking the way it does whenever someone tried to confront her when she went out of line. Whenever people didn't act the way she expected.

"I mean who'd even do something as stupid as not building any sort of emergency safeguards? It's so easy to lose way too much progress if something goes wrong! Way too easy to lose someone so important in just about every sense of the word, and with how delicate machines and human minds are, it wouldn't even take much to break either of 'em. Unless… Unless he really couldn't. I don't really know Keebo's tech much at all, and I'm no stranger to programming so that's sayin' something. That is way more complicated than a copy-paste job, I wouldn't even know where to start. And when I got to thinkin' like that, there was no way I could risk that. The Keebo that I was treatin' like a spare wouldn't even really be the same guy if he did exist. He wouldn't know me at all."

None of us had to point out that playing to win meant she was still acting on the hope the revival plan still could be option. By trying to survive, the inventor was trying to kill him too. But that way, she wouldn't need to kill her best friend, her only real friend, directly at least. And that meant even if she died here, he wouldn't, not yet. She'd rather have him survive with us than risk them both dying if she was caught.

"After ruling out the only person who maybe wouldn't have needed to actually 'die', I didn't have a lot of options left. I'm not the sort of person to try kickin' folks when they're down because I can like a _certain_ maid I could mention."

The glare Miu gave Kirumi was unmistakable, despite being the person who claimed to understand the inventor's motive the best. This was where the inventor drew her line in the sand, her attempt to kill Ryoma was just with the group. It was clear this wasn't a personal attack like the one earlier in her mind, she was never trying to prey on his pain for her gain the way everyone saw Kirumi intending to. Ryoma looked like he really wished he could've lowered his at hat at the memory.

"So… That meant no one whose video was anything like mine. Preferably someone who's motive video instead tied things up in a way, you know? Like… Himiko's video gave her some sort of 'closure' with her mentor, didn't it? He, er she... They clearly had some regrets but they said whatever happened wasn't her fault so that must've been good right? Lotsa compliments, and if she ran away for a while before this game stuff started th-then her parents might've already been prepared for bad news. And as the best time was during the show, then maybe she'd be able to die knowing she brought smiles to everyone's faces. That woulda been enough to make her happy right?! There should have been enough of a numbing agent that she wouldn't even have felt a thing, just a bit woozy before… falling asleep."

It hurt hearing logic like this. Twisted as it did seem to be, what the inventor believed to be some form of truth. But at least she understood how horrible her words were, even if saying it helped ease her guilt.

"That's all it is?! _That's_ why Himiko had to die?!" Tenko yelled as tears continued to run down her cheeks.

It's easy to understand why the aikido master was furious. None of us would ever agree with what the strawberry blonde-haired girl said.

"I know it's stupid! This whole thing is stupid! A stupid killing game with stupid motives and stupid bears who keep messing with your shit and your head! And dumbass inventors who just… Needed to leave. It's not like I don't regret what I did you know! I do. Honest, I do. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't do more for you guys. I'm sorry I was such a pain in the balls. I'm sorry I… That I thought this was the best thing to do. And I'm really sorry you had to hear me babble about you like that, Keebo. But now I guess... I can go apologize to Himiko too yeah? Unless I wind someplace different. If I do it'll probably suit me better anyway, won't it? I-I mean I'm too kinky for anyplace else amiright?!"

Her attempt to put up a brave face was just that though as the tears were still freely flowing down her forced grin. It served as good a cue as any, given how the Monokubs began the execution process. At least a cowardly but brash girl like her was able to face her fate with her chin held high and her mind out of the gutter.

It's a shame she wouldn't be allowed to stay that way. She deserved better, even as rude as she was and even though she wasn't one of the four remaining traitors.

* * *

_**GAME OVER**_

_**Miu has been found guilty.**_

_**Time for the punishment!**_

* * *

Miu found herself inside of what looked like a children's cartoon of a European castle, but the colors were pushed to near neon levels and there weren't any lines as much as there are solid shapes of color. Not to mention the crude inky barbed wires surrounding everything as if to mimic the style of her necklaces that she still had on.

The exception being the inventor herself and whatever it was she was trapped in.

There were straps on her arms and legs that had been pulled way too tightly keeping her secure in the odd 'enhancements' that bore some of Miu's own design leanings. Her legs connected to stilt-like contraptions, her arms stuck along the sides of long mechanical hands connected to a pack on her back.

When they began to move, she realized that this was a parody of her 'while you sleep' series by the way Monotaro, Monophanie, and Monosuke puppeted her about.

* * *

_**La Petite Mort**_

_**Ultimate Inventor Miu Iruma's Execution: Executed**_

* * *

The limbs kept jerking her body through the motions of building new creations, all accompanied with sickening snaps, cracks, and screams whenever the cold metal went beyond the limitations her body was made for. And when one set was done the straps restraining her came loose, so the new contraptions could show their worth and 'augmenting' her natural abilities in some sick sense.

Things continued like this, no new set of limbs being exactly the same as those before it, and as Miu's body broke more and more, the way they'd connect themselves to her would get more invasive as well.

It was to the point she was like one of those paper dolls with their joints held in place with brass tacks.

But she was still alive. Still awake. Regardless of the hellish amount of pain she was in right now.

Miu saw Monodam toss Monokid's guitar into the last room of the 'castle' she was being made to walk herself to from the side. The bedroom, a gigantic tower of mattresses the inventor would have never been able to climb had she been unaugmented, surrounded by red wax candles, more of her barbed wires, and suggestively pink mood lighting.

The guitar landed at the top, where the strawberry blonde-haired girl's body intended to take her, so she and Monokid began their respective climbs. The blue Monokub was able to reach it first, taking a proud pose as he made threatening gestures towards his more mechanical brother as it looked like he intended to try and kill him in return, but as Miu approached close behind him it was too late.

As Miu was finally released from all of her restraints, collapsed in a broken bloody heap on the bed, one last machine came to life near the bottom of the tower. And so it pulled the pin of the grenade hidden in the middle of the of the first mattress just as the inventor was ready to take the only rest she might have appreciated.

The explosion tore through everything, and given the state of Monokid's parts sent flying, it's something of a blessing nothing could really be seen of Miu's body. As the debris settled, there was more than enough blood to be assured of her fate, either blown to bits or crushed under the massive mattresses. All that was left of either of them was her broken layered choker and the remains of an electric guitar.

Miu Iruma, the Ultimate Inventor, was dead.

* * *

All of us left the trial room in a daze. Keebo was the last to leave, as he gently picked up Miu's necklace from off the floor, looking it over. It must've not been as damaged as it first appeared as he took it with him rather than leaving it behind.

_Or maybe he thinks he can fix it? It's still nice to have a reminder of the friends we lose like this._ I thought to myself.

As all of us went to our rooms for the night, a dark feeling struck me. Noticing Kiyo heading to Miyuji's room, I followed him and peaked through the door.

_**My memory about who Kiyo is has recovered... Is he trying to target Miyuji?**_ I thought in worry.

His terrifying laugh echoed as he held a Battle Gem in his hand. The gem itself was a moderate gold and a diamond was on the top.

**"Sister... One of my best candidates for you... is Miyuji Shan, the Ultimate Vocalist."** He muttered.

My eyes widened in horror as I thought _I knew it! Not only is he a creep, __**he's also one of the four remaining traitors**__!_

**...**

**End of Chapter 2: Her Song of Passion and Sin**

**Surviving Members: 15**

**Present Obtained: Inventor's Goggles - Proof that you cleared Chapter 2. A memento of Miu. It shows her devotion and pride to her work and her talent.**


	20. Chapter 3: Beware the MPT - Part 1

In a hidden part of the academy, Shulk woke up to find himself chained by his wrists. They didn't restrain any movement as he got up.

"Where am I?" He asked in confusion.

"This is the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles." An unknown voice said.

"Who are you? What have you done to Sharla?" The blonde-haired boy demanded to the voice.

The person from the shadows where the voice came from scoffed. "**I am the mastermind of the Killing School Semester**. As for your friend, she is in the killing game itself."

"What..?"

"I will admit, she's done well so far. Seems like I've underestimated her a bit. But **my plans for this game are falling apart more quickly than what I planned because of her**. So, I'll be taking some of your fighting skills of yours for myself!" The voice exclaimed as he reached out.

"No, stop! NOOOOOOO!" Shulk screamed as he felt a blue light fly out of his body.

The mastermind laughed manically as they kept consuming his abilities right out of him.

**...**

**Begin Chapter 3: Beware the Most Powerful Traitor**

I wasn't sure what to expect the next day especially with the argument I overheard before following Kiyo last night, but when I got to the dining hall the next day after putting on my normal clothes it was clear things had only gotten worse. Kaito was yelling at Angie about something and our group of friends was visibly spilt in two, the sets standing on opposite sides of the hall, but that wasn't what concerned me the most. Keebo was.

He was pink now. Every bit of his previous gentle cyan lighting was gone, leaving only the nearly toxic-looking magenta glow in it's place. Even the glare he gave Kaede was an intense pink rather than his previous desaturated blue, which shook me for reasons I couldn't explain beyond the sweating in fear.

And as around his neck, catching the light despite the shadows there, was Miu's layered necklace he salvaged the night before, clean and repaired, I didn't need to wonder why he did. That was a fair enough warning for what this was about.

Kaede wasn't a good enough leader for us so Angie wanted to take over her responsibilities.

The way the room was divided into two new 'groups' was pretty clear. Those in support of Angie's new leadership were Keebo, Tenko, Tokuko, Kirumi, and Gonta. Those out of mine and Kaede's friends that wanted to keep supporting the pianist's own attempts to protect us were Kokichi, Kiyo, Miyuji, Ryoma, and Kaito's trio of him, Shuichi, and Maki.

_Little wonder this would happen the day I would be the last one to arrive, huh? Not that I'd blame anyone here._ I thought to myself before going in to stop Kaito and Angie's argument.

"Calm down, both of you! Let's just try to talk this out, OK?" I said. "This is about how Kaede's been leading everyone so far, right? Just tell me what's going on."

"Atua doesn't believe Kaede's been doing a good job at keeping everyone safe. She is good at bringing us together, but only in ways that have better enabled us to turn on each other." Angie explained. "He doesn't feel only Monokuma the Monokubs' motives are at fault for that, as she haven't tried limiting the means for our betrayals. And so He told me Angie should be the one to lead us now, and to make rules to help protect everyone here! We can't keep hoping for her dangerous dream of going back outside Sharla, we've lost enough of us."

"And that's why I'm calling this bullshit! How long do you honestly think we could stay here?!" Kaito yelled. "Have you _seen_ where our food's been coming from? Any medical facilities, or even a goddamn nurses office?! We can't trust _anything_ here to keep us alive in the long term, you idiot!"

The astronaut should know about the dangers of being stuck somewhere without any means of protecting or repairing the resources all of us will be relying on than anyone else here, given his talent and experience. And yet Angie and her supporters kept completely ignoring his warnings and concerns.

"But Atua says it's safe here, and it's not like we have any better options." The artist pointed out. "Without a safer alternative, it's plain to see this is the best course of action we can be taking, isn't it?"

I didn't agree with that so I stepped in. "Tokuko, you're rather wary of cults and con artists, right? Because it's sounding like you should take that advice right now you know, you can't just pretend Kaito's wrong here."

"How could she? She and Angie were both _Con Artists_ already, aren't they?" Kokichi mocked, looking for all to see like a Volff with it's prey as both the artist and the actress glared at him for the pun.

_But he's not really OK with what's happening here, is he? This is too dangerous to allow things to keep going on for long, right?_ I thought.

"Who are you calling a cult?! We are-" Tenko's yelling was interrupted by a familiar shout in unison, minus the deepest voice in the yell.

* * *

I didn't know how I got into this situation, but Monophanie went with Angie's group and after getting the 'Magic Key' from them, Monodam lead my group to the fourth floor with a golden hammer in his robotic paw.

Following him soon proved to be a mistake. Not an avoidable one, and not one that was his fault in particular, but it felt like a mistake nonetheless. The fourth floor lived up to the creepier associations with a number a bit too well in my opinion. And that's only speaking from the top of the stairs, we hadn't even been to any rooms yet.

_**Kiyo's lab is here**__, isn't it? It's got to be here with this atmosphere and everything, it suits him __**way**__ too well. Oh boy._ I thought to myself as Shuichi let out a startled yell.

Kiyo must have thought the same thing as he went to a set of traditional shoji-style doors, unlike all the others in this academy. Kokichi quickly followed after him while Kaito stayed where he was, sweating and trying not to look at anything around him.

Shuichi and Ryoma were rather amused by this as they tried leading the astronaut down the halls but given the scream, that could not have been from Maki and Kaito dashing back and practically flying back down the stairs, that was clearly a lost cause. It didn't stop an annoyed Maki from following after him to literally drag him back by the arm though, as if in payback for all the times he practically did the same thing for her.

"C'mon Maki Roll, we don't need this many people here, right?! I can go see about the Ninja Scroll or something-" Kaito tried to argue, but the assassin was still having none of his excuses.

"Not a chance. I thought a 'manly' guy like you is supposed to be brave, aren't you?" She asked.

"W-Well... I mean... T-That's why it's good for you and Shuichi to do this alone! It's-"

"Better for you to face your cowardice here then. _You_ are the only one with a problem, idiot." Maki challenged with an air of finality that seemed to shut Kaito up for the most part. Except for some nervous keening noises I could hear as he was being pulled away.

I chose to not draw attention to Kaede and she proves he really wasn't the 'only one with a problem' and instead made my way with her, Miyuji, and Monodam down the hall to a set of three doors.

The pianist opened the first to see what was in it, only to let out a shriek of her own and slam it shut again upon seeing what I could think looked like a ghost in the form of a certain blue Monokub. As Monodam grabbed her hand and made a dash for the anthropology lab along with me and Miyuji, we weren't the only ones.

Me and the vocalist at least found the confused looks on Kokichi and Kiyo's faces hilarious, we settled down when the supreme leader started to laugh at Kaede's own frazzled expression.

"...Might I inquire to what exactly that was about? If you'll pardon my use of the phrase, you look like you've seen a gho-" Kiyo tried to ask, choosing to react more calmly than the local liar. If only his choice of words had been better.

"Don't. Say it. Something was in one of those side rooms, honest!" Kaede tried to explain the best she could.

"INDEED, IT-WAS-MONOKID! BUT-DIFFERENT-THAN-HE-USED-TO-BE!" Monodam exclaimed.

"_Please_ tell me- you're trying to say- you think you say some ghost- of a _robotic teddy bear_, Kaede. Because this is fucking priceless, you should see your face right now!" Kokichi was barely able to pause his laughter enough to speak, despite the scolding side look Kiyo was giving him for his teasing.

_Don't you fucking pretend I don't see you smirking under that mask, Kiyo! You're enjoying this too, aren't you?!_ I thought.

"S-Shut up! You can go look for yourself then if you don't believe me." The pianist challenged.

"And leave you, Sharla, Miyuji, and Kiyo in his spooooky lab alone together? Ooookie-dokie! You four have fun~"

"I hardly see what you're talking about, the setup they have here is _magnificent_." Kiyo snarked. "I haven't the foggiest idea where on earth they could have found some of these works, I never expected I'd be able to so much as see them much less be in their presence during my lifetime."

As Kokichi stepped out to investigate Kaede's 'ghost bear', it was almost funny to see Kiyo flit about the room like he was a kid in a candy store. Though hearing him ramble about how there was a book with 'spells' written by the sole survivor of a village, fueled by the fury behind the girl's pen as she wrote, the incredibly heavy dog statue and cage meant for a séance from it, and a genuine katana did nothing to ease Kaede's nerves at all . Not that he noticed in his sheer delight at everything around him or that he's aware of my newly recovered memories.

The supreme leader really should've expected to find the pianist curled up into a ball like the way we saw her, sitting on one on the seats near the bookshelves with her head on her knees, when he got back.

"Uhh, Kiyo I think you broke her. Great, _now_ who's gonna save us from Angie's crazy cultists?! They even have _Kirumi_, we can't compete with that! All we have is an idiot and scary people! WE'RE DOOOOMED!" The purple-haired boy faux-sobbed with his crocodile tears again as Kiyo sighed.

"Technically we do also have one of the less incompetent and supposedly benevolent of the Monokubs' progeny, but you make a fair assessment." The anthropologist admitted. "They also have Gonta and Tenko among them, which is also concerning as both are as strong as they are gullible I fear. Unless Kaede is back with us now of course?"

"Darn you all to heck, you horrible, horrible people." Kaede replied in a deadpan tone, muffled by her body.

"Nope. Still broken, she can't even curse now." Miyuji said as she sweatdroped in embarrassment.

"...Hmm, I see. Very well then, speaking of curses-" Kiyo's words certainly got Kaede back on her feet.

"NO! NO MORE CURSES. I HEARD ENOUGH TODAY." She yelled as she pointed at him, but he was more amused than anything else. I chalked it up to their height difference.

"There, that appears to have done the trick. My apologies for not seeing sooner how distressed you were becoming, I got rather overzealous you could say." The anthropologist apologized.

_Or you could say you were a __**dick**__, you jerk!_ I thought.

"THAT-IS-GOOD-" Monodam saw the enraged glare Kaede gave him and back-pedaled. "I-MEAN-NOT-BEING-INSENSITIVE-TO-YOUR-FRIENDS, THAT-IS-BAD. BUT-THAT-ENJOYING-YOUR-LAB-IS-GOOD! EACH-WAS-TAILORED-FOR-YOU-BASTARDS-AFTER-ALL."

"Is that more or less creepy to hear than everything else here?" Kiyo asked.

The green Monokub did make a good point, those labs were made especially for us to use. That explains how Kaede and Miyuji have the selection of music that they did.

* * *

A while later, I told Kaito to gather everyone on this floor and meet up later as I headed to find Angie's group.

_It's best to have everyone regroup in the dining hall to see what we'll be doing with this. It's as good a time as any to see what they've found so far too._ I thought to myself.


	21. Chapter 3: Beware the MPT - Part 2

I found them all outside, which Monosuke wasn't pleased about at all. Despite his earlier implications he was going to make this process as difficult as he could back in the dining hall, the Ninja Scroll still found it's place in what was either the masked ninja's mask or mouth.

Gonta looked rather guilty upon seeing me, but before I could find out why I was being pulled along by Tenko, who was eager to show off her own lab that had recently sprung from the scenery.

It was a welcome relief to see some traditional architecture that wasn't at all related to Kiyo's lab. Not that I wasn't trying to get the memories of it out of my head so I could put the pieces of my most recent restored memories together.

That's not to say the Ultimate Aikido Master's lab wasn't still weird, between the large wooden fighting doll in the back and the odd hanging platforms. I assumed this was related to Tenko's spin on the art as opposed to being needed for the actual fighting style.

_Which fits what Monodam said about these all being made for us rather than our talents. Only Tenko and her master know what Neo-Aikido even is._ I thought to myself.

"Look Sharla, isn't this _awesome_?!" The aikido master exclaimed. "I could give you some lessons here later in return for your rifle lessons if you'd like, you may need them given the type of degenerates you keep wasting your precious time on. Actually, that's a great idea, I should give all the girls here some lessons for self-defense, thanks Sharla!"

_...But I didn't say anything?_ I thought before saying "Maybe later, things with the fourth floor were rather... Uh, interesting to say the least. But thanks for the offer, it could be pretty useful. I'm not sure you should limit this to just the girls though."

She got that look on her face like she was impersonating an insulted dead Piranhax. "...Fine. Kaito maybe. Keebo probably, even if his flexibility is _awful_ and his weight could make things awkward. And while Gonta doesn't need it, he might still be fun to teach. But that's it! It doesn't matter how small and punchable he is, Kokichi is off the table! Kiyo too, because I don't _ever_ want to be in a room alone with that guy. Gives me some bad vibes."

_That's fair._ I thought before asking "Then what's wrong with Ryoma? He's a pretty nice guy, and it might be easier for you to train him, Shuichi, Kaito, and Maki at once since I think they're already doing something similar together sometimes."

"...I'm... not sure I'd really want to teach Maki this either... But Ryoma's a killer too! Why would I want to teach _him_ any of my precious Neo-Aikido?!" Tenko exclaimed. "And even if I _did_, how would I even demonstrate for a person that size? That'd be too much hassle for me, and like Gonta and Maki he doesn't really need my help."

There was little point in arguing against that, and Angie came bouncing in anyway to see what was going on, putting a halt to that conversation. Monophanie was waddling after her, like a duckling following it's mother, as I focused back on why I came in the first place.

"Hey, hey~ What're you two doing in here huh? Has Sharla taken an interest in joining Atua's efforts?" The platinum blonde-haired girl asked.

"Efforts?" I repeated. "We just discovered two new labs on the fourth floor. Also, yours is one of those two that opened, Angie! It's just down the hall from Kiyo's, so location aside I hope you'll enjoy it. We just thought it might be a good idea to regroup in the dining hall if you're all done exploring too, to trade notes and discoveries. If that's OK with everyone?"

The artist's disposition shifted again, as if taking things more seriously for the moment to think, before going back to her bubbly bouncy persona. "Hmm, That will probably be for the best, for now, we are just about done here. **It will be good to establish some new rules too.** Keebo, Kirumi, and Tokuko are likely already on their way there anyway, since they had nothing else to do around here since only Tenko's lab appeared. So let's all get going, c'mon, c'mon!"

_New rules? For the killing game, like Monodam gave?_ I thought to myself.

When I got there with Angie and Tenko, everyone else was back and ready to talk about their discoveries. General information about all of the labs was shared, and the artist for her credit wasn't the least bit disturbed by her new floormate or the descriptions of the area around her lab.

Gonta looks like he wanted to talk about something, likely the reason for the guilty expression from before, but the looks from Angie and her cultists was enough to convince him to keep quiet. So things moved onto the discussion of rules, and the tiebreaker scenario Monodam explained while I was gone. But he wasn't the only cub trying to endear themselves to us, they clung to in their efforts to solve their fighting.

Monophanie had told Kirumi about another rule of the killing game that had yet to be touched on, regarding body discoveries. Even if we strongly suspected a missing student was killed, until the requirement regarding students finding and bearing witness to the corpse was met everything would continue to act as if they weren't dead.

Keebo apparently also pushed the issue and had her concede that even if everyone knew where a body was, without witnesses beyond the killer to 'prove' someone was dead the game would continue to proceed as if they were still alive, like a twisted monster.

As there weren't any rules about hiding or destroying bodies, the implications of this rule were very concerning. Particularly since the killer themselves would never count as a witness to help get a case started in the first place.

_None of us know what happened to our other friends' bodies really._ I off-handily thought to myself.

But then I groaned in pain as more of my memories recovered, and the others clearly noticed as they looked at me with concern or confusion.

"Did you remember who the traitors are again?" Kaede asked.

"Or what happened in the Killing Titan War?" Kirumi followed up.

"Ngh... Yes... I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but one of the traitors still alive..." I muttered.

"Is what..?" Shuichi wondered.

**"One of them... is the Ultimate Disciple!"** I finished. **"They're the most powerful of all of Zanza's disciples!"**

If there was any color in the others' faces, they were certainly turning pale now.

Ryoma didn't seem too bothered by the news. "So what you're sayin' is that we should **beware the most powerful traitor until you remember their name**?"

"Yep. That's pretty much it for now." I answered.

* * *

After arguments about who the Ultimate Disciple was flew across the dining hall like sword clashes, the Monokubs called all of us to gather in the gym. The arrangements of the two groups were neatly divided with Angie's group near the left wall while Kaito, Kokichi, and Maki waited for me and the others along the right-hand side. Too bad the artist and the astronaut were arguing again closer to the middle, likely encouraging keeping all of us divided this way, while Monotaro, Monophanie, and Monodam kept turning to look at whoever was speaking as if they were watching an intense battle. Well, Monotaro and Monophanie turned, Monodam's head swiveled.

"Atua says there is no place for murderers in a peaceful academy life like we should strive to have. Ryoma and Maki have too many ties to the horrors of death to simply roam unchecked." Angie argued.

"And _I_ say that's a load of crap and you know it!" Kaito shouted. "What you have us do, lock them up over something they ain't fuckin' gonna do in the first goddamn place?! Ryoma already paid for his crimes, and you can't just going around judging either of them like this!"

Kirumi tried to argue for this idea. "This could be as much as a help to their safety as it is for the rest of us, as if they are supervised then no one else would have the opportunity to attack them out of a misplaced sense of paranoia."

"Speaking for yourself there?" Kokichi chimed in, to the maid's obvious displeasure. "Would you also be one of the people that would be 'supervised' after your own little stunt against Ryoma? I'd be more than happy to keep an eye on my mom if you want me to~"

"Of course not, she's also a member of the student council! She may have lost her temper before but she's better now, and she's in agreement with the rest of us so she's not a danger to anyone at all." Tenko argued, not that the supreme leader was buying anything as he gave her and Kirumi skeptical but nonplussed looks.

"Hey, everyone, let's settle down. What are you talk-" Kaede tried to ask, before Monosuke decided to take control of the situation instead.

"Listen up ya chumps, let's get right down to business! 'Cuz we've got anotha great motive for you all." He exclaimed.

"It won't matter, nothing you can do will make us participate in your killing game anymore. We have Atua to help guide us now." Keebo said.

_Geez, he's certainly acting the way Angie wanted now._ I thought.

"You must've misunderstood, that's not what this motive is for!" Monotaro nearly shouted.

"What are you talking about? A scary motive like this was left behind by Daddy, so of course it can be used to help with the killing game if Monosuke wants it to." Monophanie said in response to her red brother.

"WHAT-MONOTARO-IS-SAYING-IS-THAT-THIS-IS-A-MOTIVE-THAT-CAN-BRING-EVERYONE-CLOSER-TOGETHER!" Monodam explained. **"BECAUSE-IT-CAN-RETURN-A-FRIEND-THE-GAME-TOOK-AWAY-FROM-US-ALL-BEFORE."**

_'Us all'? Not 'You all'? I thought he, Monotaro, and Monophanie started hanging out with us because they were fighting with Monosuke. Is he really trying to 'be friends' with us now because of the problems between him and his siblings? Why do that when they're the headmasters?_ I thought.

"Can it, ya tin can! That isn't how this'll work you hear me?! So listen up you fucks and listen good! This here motive is no mere book ya'know. It'll be the most terrifying shit you've ever seen. Because what we got right here is the groundwork to get you all a new **'transfer student'**... Of a sort. Right Monophanie?" Monosuke began to explain with a snicker as he passed the duty to his sister like a twisted set of show announcers.

"Of course Monosuke! **Because the place they'll be 'transferring' from is **_**Beyond The Grave~**_ Isn't that just the most fear-inducing thing you've ever heard?! **You'll be able to resurrect one of the four people who have died in this killing game back to life**, to welcome them back into the class." The pink cub continued.

"CORRECT! **BUT-THIS-WILL-ONLY-WORK-ON-ONE-OF-THE-FOUR.** WE'RE-SORRY. YOU-WILL-UNDERSTAND-WHY-WHEN-YOU-READ-HOW-IT-WORKS-IN-THE-NECRONOMICON-WE-WILL-PROVIDE-FOR-YOU. BUT-" Monodam tried to say before his red brother interrupted him.

"But nothing! This is a gift for you guys, so be grateful. So choose carefully, 'cuz you only get this one shot. And who knows what they'll look like. Same as before as if nothing happened in the first place? Disgusting zombies still screwed over from how they died? Something in between? Or maybe someone completely new, who knows?! Won't _that_ be a blast to find out?" Monotaro theorized the possibilities.

_What? Are they serious right now? Can we really talk to one of our friends again?_ I thought to myself.

Everyone else seemed to be having similar thoughts as the Monokubs derailed themselves yet again, Monophanie objecting over how she was never told how 'icky' the transfer student could be. So the fact they genuinely don't know what will come of this appeared to be honest at the very least, and if not this being the first she's heard of it does incline one to think the student will be returned to us alive and whole.

_Then again, this doesn't sound like something the Necronomicon would leave out, unless they didn't bother reading all of it._ I thought.

"There's no bloody way bringing the dead back is possible, right?" Tokuko asked, unamused by the Monokubs' explanation.

"R-Right, 'course it isn't! They're just being stupid to rile us up, no way in hell it's possible!" Kaito insisted.

Tenko wasn't going to take that excuse. "Hey! Aren't you the degenerate who likes to claim the 'impossible is possible'? Why are you changing your tune now, huh?! This could bring Himiko back, you coward!"

In response, Kiyo was the first to make his objection. "Now I may be one inclined to doubt a skepticism born from the hubris that often comes with a purely scientific background but I must concur with Kaito. While many cultures around the globe may have indeed made their own twists on rituals made to grant safe passage for a soul from one life onto the next to one instead meant to bring a person back from whatever 'afterlife' they believe in, none have ever truly succeeded in such a lofty goal. And if merely communicating with someone who has been lost to us is what would be desired from using their suspect methods, we already had the means of contacting any departed spirit in my own lab which would be a more trustworthy alternative."

"Uhh, wait a sec, aren't you contradicting yourself there? And I'm not sure 'trustworthy' would be the word you're looking for." Kokichi pointed out.

_You're one to talk, Kokichi. Stupid somehow familiar jerk._ I thought.

"Not at all, a spirit needs a vessel to best communicate, and no ritual exists that can bring back the flesh of the departed in such a way to sustain it to a point one could call it 'life'." The anthropologist continued. "A soul might be given a temporary medium or even 'haunt' a particular person or object so they can continue to interact with this world, and that could be seen as returning from the great beyond to some extent, but never in a way that leaves any of the parties involved properly satisfied. Nothing like what is being suggested-"

Thankfully before he could continue his rant any further, Maki cut him off.

"Then that's fine, no need to fo into it more than that." She advised. "If even the closest thing we could have to an occultist specialist doesn't believe it could be possible, then the idiot must be right for once. No more need for discussion. We don't need to go around needlessly humoring dangerous motives anymore-"

"Is it only natural for one so quick to end the lives of others be as quick to rule out bringing them back?" Kirumi asked.

The assassin's glare was enough to nearly chill the room, already feeling cooler than it should as the subject was giving all of us goosebumps, but the maid took her anger head on while barely batting a lash.

"Atua agrees with Tenko _and_ Kiyo. It wouldn't really be so strange for this to be possible in an Eden such as this."

With those words, Angie's followers were all ears, which helped keep the tensions between the two girls from escalating any further.

"Nyahaha! Come now, everything in this new world of ours is odd enough, isn't it? How can we even really know the ones we believe are 'dead' really are? Their bodies get taken from us so quickly, 'crime scenes' cleaned up so thoroughly as if nothing had happened, and even 'executions' so over the top that it just couldn't be possible, right? So far past any suspension of disbelief that all of this must surely be impossible, shouldn't it?" The artist asked.

As the silence of the others considering her words gave her an opportunity, she continued. "_Atua_ surely thinks so. For Atua knows our dead can be 'returned' to us even if 'resurrection' is indeed impossible. Because no one is really dead here. They never were."

_But that's almost impossible unless you were like Shulk! I wasn't the only one to check the bodies, Shuichi, Kiyo, and Maki should've noticed this! ...Right?_ I thought.

"Do you honestly believe a mere imitation could capture the sensation of a warm body growing cold? Surely you jest. And even if my own assessment of Himiko's condition was admittedly amateurish, then Maki or Shuichi would have easily caught such a massive discrepancy with backgrounds such as their own, yes?" Kiyo countered, echoing my own thoughts.

Kokichi looked at him blankly before returning to his grin. I swore I saw a colder look in his eyes as the anthropologist continued.

"We can't _prove_ they aren't at any rate, look at the levels of technology the existence of Monokuma, the Monokubs, and the Exisals shows this place has access to. Even if the murder victims were real, then a means of saving them before the point of no return may have indeed been possible, and they are the only bodies Maki has ever been close enough to check."

"But wasn't the basis of wanting Angie to lead in order to avoid doing what the game wanted by using the motives Monokuma and his cubs gave us like I encouraged before? Is it really okay for you to change tunes like this because this one would be more convenient for all of us if it's true? I… I want you to be right, Angie. Honest, I do. It'd be great if everyone was still alive safe somewhere else, away from here. But we've been burned before, and I don't want a repeat of that. Please let's just think things through."

Kaede's point did raise some debate. This had turned Angie's initial point on it's head, but the bond of the cult, their 'faith' in her and by extension Atua, was strong enough to ignore the hypocrisy at play.

"It doesn't matter in end, student council still able to protect everyone! And Angie our good president. And she says motive to save student won't be used to hurt anyone. If book says rescuing not-really-dead friends mean other friends need to be hurt to work then we won't listen to book, promise. No worries!" Gonta claimed with a comforting smile and absolute confidence.

"So that's what this is, Gonta? A 'Student Council' to end the killing game?" I asked.

"Yup! So Sharla no worry no more. No more killing happen, that why Gonta and Tenko here! We enforce rules Atua makes so people no get hurt or hurt each other again. No more disagreements." The entomologist answered.

"So you think that gives you the right to just set this up under everyone's noses?" Ryoma spoke up. "Like we'd ever agree to this. All this will lead to is either more disagreements or Angie trying to set herself up as a tyrant, Gonta."

The muscular boy looked taken aback by this. But it was likely a good thing the tennis pro said something first as Kokichi looked nearly seething at what was going on. Not intentionally either, as I saw him try to fall back onto his smiling mask from the corner of my eye, trying to keep myself from drawing attention to him.

No one else noticed it, as he was near the back of the crowd while Kiyo took to rambling on about the nature of cults and the reasons why they form in places like this, giving him time to re-adjust. And when he did he cheerily went along with Kiyo's rant in order to highlight the means of Angie's manipulations. Even though he should know they wouldn't listen.

_So I was right. He's not OK with this either, damn, he's even more bothered by how Angie's doing this than I am. I guess this just means we'll have to __**find another way to bring all of us back together**__._ I thought before speaking up. "Please everyone, let's just calm down-"

"Indeed, no need for anyone to worry at all! The student council will take care of the resurrection ritual so no one else has to worry about anything. Atua will decide what we will do with it at a later time."

And with that Angie gladly took the book from Monosuke's eager paws and tightly held it to her chest as she began skipping away from the conversation. It's not like there would have been reasoning with her anyway.

Kaito looked nearly as sick as I felt over things ending on a note like that, but there was nothing else that could be done so everyone began to disperse.

I got inside the boiler room before nighttime began, but it came with an unwelcome discovery.

The manhole cover was put snugly back into place and covered in large rocks so no one could try to attempt to remove it again. It was all too heavy for this to be a mistake, but at the same time, it hadn't been moved before the second trial was held. So while it could be a Monokubs' doing with their Exisals, that may not be the case.

_Was this why Gonta looked guilty before? Was __**this**__ Angie's plan? Why can't she understand staying isn't an option for Kaede?! Rantaro __**died**__ to prove this fact to us already! If he hadn't, we __**all**__ would have._ I thought to myself.

At least I'll be able to bring this up to Kaede, Kokichi, or Kaito after the get-together. Even if I told everyone tomorrow what happened, It's unlikely any of them would be able to lift the manhole cover to fix it.

I figured I'd might as well call it a night. As I went to sleep I thought _Even if that kind of planning hasn't really worked for us yet, it's the best idea I can come up with right now._


	22. Chapter 3: Beware the MPT - Part 3

It during the morning announcement that I woke up this time, I was thinking about what I discovered in the boiler room yesterday as I put on a fresh set of clothes before heading to the dining hall.

On my way there, I saw Kokichi and Kiyo talking again, it sounded like the latter was planning to spend most of his time in his lab. The supreme leader was pestering him to have a closer look at the golden katana in exchange for helping the anthropologist sort through things. Given who he was, a 'closer look' probably meant playing with it.

Luckily, Kiyo wisely refused his help under those terms, since Kokichi handling a blade couldn't lead to anything good. I hurried my pace when I caught the anthropologist's eye so he couldn't ask me either.

_I've got a bigger mess to clean up right now as it is, thanks. Technically a creepier one too._ I thought to myself as I went to the dining hall.

The arguing had already started back again from where last night left off when I got there, Kaito ready to go as ever. Shuichi, Ryoma, Maki, and Miyuji stood on either side of him, while Angie, Tenko, and Gonta sat at the table with their morning meals. Kaede was also there trying to restrain the astronaut from attacking along with the vocalist.

"Calm down Kaito, there's no point talking until everyone shows up. With this group, the same problems from last night will happen again." I told him, trying to take control of the situation best I could for now.

At least it was enough for now, as while Kaito still looked conflicted, he reluctantly went to get some food for himself and the other five and they seated themselves as far away from Angie as they could at the end of the long table.

When I went to do the same, I saw that Kirumi looked rather hurt that the six of them chose to do this for themselves, so I tried to ease her stress by offering to help the maid with the cooking.

It was hard to keep up with her sudden lesson, but 'teaching' me did help lighten her mood and it was fun in it's own way, I knew what I was doing given the food I had to make for my friends during the Killing Titan War along with Fiora, so I kept at it until everyone else had arrived. I helped lay the plates out the best I could too, which wasn't easy with fifteen dishes. Kirumi even laughed a little for a change as I struggled a bit with balancing some heavier dishes.

But now it was time to get back to the business at hand.

"Alright, now that everyone's here do we all know what the student council did yesterday?-" I started, trying to be as neutral as I could before Kaito interrupted.

"**ANGIE BLOCKED OFF OUR ONLY FUCKING ESCAPE ROUTE** DAMMIT! As if her attempt at enforcing an unbalanced curfew wasn't enough of a problem." The astronaut exclaimed.

"Now, now you have to think of the bigger picture. Atua knows best, and we all saw how the false hope the idea of escape drove Miu to murder before. Had Kaede not asked her to make her special hammers then her lab wouldn't have been attacked in the first place and her paranoia wouldn't have driven her to such extremes. And now one of the most practical talents among our number is gone." Angie said, putting her hands as if in prayer despite her face never losing her 'gentle' smile.

* * *

After a huge argument, I overheard a conversation between Kaede, Miyuji, Kaito, and Maki that night. The three girls were gonna approach Angie to 'join' the council to find out what exactly her plans were for the resurrection ritual. Maybe even try to curb how controlling or dangerous they were becoming.

I followed them to Angie's lab on the fourth floor, but both doors were tightly locked. Kaede tried knocking and calling to get the artist's attention, but it was no use. Neither was Maki's attempt to break the door down with her pounding, much to the pianist's distress. Miyuji saw me but didn't say anything.

"What are you three doing up here so late at night?" Kirumi asked as she approached us. "There is a curfew in effect as you may recall. Shouldn't you all be off to bed? Me and Sharla can escort you if you'd like."

"H-Hi Kirumi. Wasn't expecting to see you and Sharla here. I thought you two went to bed. How-" Kaede stuttered out.

"That would be because I left my Monopad in my room tonight and I assume Sharla did the same." The maid explained. "I suspected that's how they were able to tell us where everyone was so reliably, and wanted to test the theory a little. I assume Kiyo's been doing the same thing, seeing how he's in his lab right now despite what your map may tell you. I was fairly certain he'd end up sleeping in there, or not sleeping at all, if I didn't stop by to remind him to go to bed at a more reasonable hour. Finding you here was more unexpected. Do you wish to speak to Angie?"

"Yes, that's why we're here. Or rather that's why Kaede's here. I decided to follow her so she wouldn't be dragged off to bed before she got to try." Maki admitted.

"Aren't you supposed to be enforcing this curfew she set up?" Miyuji asked.

"Of course, for that is the will of our President and as her maid I will gladly carry out her wishes, regardless of if it is for her or Atua. But as the curfew is for your own protection, escorting you all back to your dorms after you finish talking should be following the spirit of the request. Allow me to get her for you, she had mentioned earlier that **at night time she'd only open her doors for council members**."

As Kirumi predicted, Angie had no problem opening the door for her, she wasn't even bothered by our presence even if it broke her rules.

"My, my, now this is a surprise. What could Kaede, Sharla, Miyuji, and Maki be wanting so late at night? Oh, I know! You all wanna join the student council, don't you? You'll need to get acquainted with Atua first, but I'll gladly introduce you to Him if you like. Come in, come in~" The artist without dropping her cheerful expression.

_Well that was anticlimactic. I thought she'd be angry, well her version of angry, at Kirumi for breaking her rules to help us or something._ I thought.

"Yes! Exactly. Sorry for the intrusion, I just… I wanted to help you so we could unite everyone again." Kaede said. "I'm not sure I'm really fit to be leading everyone anymore, so I thought joining your group could help smooth things over with the others, like Kaito. Though Maki and Miyuji were just keeping me company and Sharla followed us here."

Miyuji said that she was calling it a night and ran back downstairs to her room. The pianist took a moment to tell Maki to wait for her outside the lab to be on the safe side. She might be too hostile or brutally honest about some of the things Angie might say so me and Kaede were best off on our own here.

But when the two of us entered Angie's lab, we were in for a shock, as Tsumugi stared back at us. Not just her either, Rantaro, Miu, and Himiko were all there. Statues of them at least, but the likeness was uncanny. Though oddly enough Himiko's hat looked like it was the same one she actually wore, rather than a wax replica like the rest of her.

Kaede could barely process Angie's explanation of them as she tried to calm herself down, faced with everyone she's failed like this. But when the resurrection ritual came up she was able to focus again.

"Divine aren't they? Atua took possession of me to make these wax effigies for the resurrection ritual and I'm quite happy with how they've turned out." The artist admitted. "It didn't really say how they would be used so Atua wanted to make them look as lifelike as possible, and Tenko even helped me get one of Himiko's hats."

"The ritual? He did an amazing job with them. We almost thought they were real." I said.

"Yup! The book says we needed **an effigy of the deceased we intended to revive them**, though we did go a _bit_ overboard. Tenko made an excellent case for Himiko being the one we bring back so we didn't need any of the others." The platinum blonde-haired girl explained. "I just thought I- WE might make a series out of it, to memorialize those we've lost. Just because murderers are too much of a risk to bring back it doesn't mean I think they should be forgotten. And Rantaro's a case where it'll just be easier to trust Himiko, regardless of how things would turn out."

"W-We see. So that's why Tenko's a part of the council? To make sure Himiko can come back?" Kaede wondered.

"Yup-yup-yup! I have my doubts how much she honestly believes in Atua, but she's loyal if nothing else."

"And when exactly are you going to do the ritual? Did you finish these recently?" I asked.

"Indeed I did! It might be a bit too late to finish it tonight but I think tomorrow will work."

"Are you sure? Because, if I'm a member of the council I could spend tomorrow trying to get everyone else on board with your plan. So we could all do the ritual together. No hard feelings between anyone." Kaede said.

"Huh? Are you sure you'd be able to convince them all? Kaito was rather against we do this at all before. As were you. Have you really changed your mind?" Angie asked.

_Kaede better know what she's doing. **Lying can't be too hard like before.**_ I thought to myself.

"Yeah, I mean look at how ridiculous some of these deaths have been! None of that could be real. And I'm sure he's objecting because of issues with your previous ideas. I'm _positive_ I could get him to listen!" The pianist responded.

"Hmm… Well in that case Atua doesn't mind putting it off until the day after. This isn't a timed motive after all. And I'm sure our friends are all just waiting for us." The artist pointed out. "Maybe we'll even be able to bring all of them back! That's what Atua tells me at least, and Atua is never wrong. We wouldn't want Him to punish us."

"R-Right! Thank you Angie, me and Sharla will do my best tomorrow! For… For Atua! And everyone else. Would you mind if we take a look at the Necronomicon, to see if there's anything else I can help you with?"

"Sure~ But you aren't allowed to take it from this room, okay? I still need it to set things up."

With Angie's permission and under the artist's watchful eye, the two of us took in what information she could to further delay things if possible. The effigies were already prepared so nothing could be done there, and it'd be easy to replace them even if she broke one since the requirements for it were so basic.

But we could prevent Angie from burning the book for now.

There aren't many sources of fire in the academy after all, so Maki and Miyuji could help us remove the candles from the side rooms. If the Necronomicon couldn't be reduced to ashes, Angie wouldn't be able to do things ahead of schedule. That could give Ryoma time take this book and stop Angie's plan entirely, no one would be able to catch him at his speed, and if the book couldn't be burned the motive was useless.

We thanked the artist for her time as the pianist returned the book and spilt up to go to tell Maki, Ryoma, and Miyuji about our plan with them.

Afterwards, I went to my room to head to sleep. Angie hasn't noticed that Kaede had lied after all, Kirumi would surely be better at it than she was.

As I went to sleep, the melody from before the first trial played within my heart and the last thought I could remember was the wish that I was really doing the right thing.


	23. Chapter 3: Beware the MPT - Part 4

The next day during my rifle lessons, Miyuji seemed to be curious about something. I didn't think much of it until she turned to face me.

"Yo, this might be a tough topic for you but..." The vocalist hesitated for a bit before continuing. **"What really happened during the Killing Titan War?"**

My eyes widened in confusion. "When did this come up?"

"It's just that it seems like your fuzzy memories have to do with that war. If your motive video showed us the truth, then how exactly _did_ the war begin?" She responded.

I looked down in regret as I answered. **"I was the one who started it."**

"What..?" The black-haired girl muttered in shock.

"I was searching one of the shops in my home Colony 6 when I came across **a game system of some sort**. I decided to get off the shopkeeper's hands and got it. When I got home, I saw that it had a game called **'Xenoblade Chronicles'**. It looked Homs-made, but when I realized we haven't reached the advances of technology like the High Entia, **I saw myself in the game**. **The game was actually the events of the future!**" I explained. "I worked hard to keep track of what each playable character liked to receive as gifts, which materials lesser characters offered for trade, and enemy characteristics such as directional defenses. **I'd even made preparations days before everything in the game was set to go down.** **However, Zanza and his group of Disciples and pawns became aware of my actions and how they awoken the Ultimate Calamity named Murasaki Kurayami from her crystal slumber.**"

"WHAT?!" Miyuji yelled. "You mean **you ended up unknowingly awakening a god-like being from a slumber for who knows how long **_**and**_** attracted the attention of a god and their followers**?!"

"Well, Murasaki slept for a month before her crystal was destroyed." I snarked before continuing. "Because of that, they referred to me as the **'Girl Who Defies Her Destiny'**. A Scorbunny who I named Zellium came to me with my Battle Gem saying that it was special soon after. Then the future started to change in ways like different enemies, deaths that weren't supposed to happen, and new Arts."

* * *

It was nearly nighttime when I finished my explanation and decided to head to the fourth floor, but I wasn't alone. I saw Maki and Kiyo in the latter's lab near one of many bookshelves, though the assassin put the book she was reading aside when she heard the anthropologist come in.

_What __**is**__ Maki doing here anyway?_ I thought to myself.

I hid behind the glass case containing the golden katana to avoid being seen and listened to the conversation between the two.

"Good evening, my apologies if I interrupted you. This is quite the surprise, seeing you here." Kiyo began as he offer her a brief bow.

Maki wasn't the sort of person to be offended by mince words though. "You didn't. I was hoping to talk to you actually."

_Really? She __**wanted**__ to talk to him?_ I thought.

"Really? I'm sorry to have kept you waiting then." The anthropologist apologized before asking "How may I help you? But isn't it a bit late for this?"

"No, it's fine. And there's no point in acting like you actually care about any council's curfews either. But..." The assassin paused as if she was debating with herself for a moment, fiddling with her collar while in thought. Kiyo took a seat near her as he waited to see what was on her mind. "...The only reason I'm asking you of all people is because no one would believe you if you breathed a word about any of this. And Shuichi indicted you aren't as clueless about this sorta stuff as the rest of us mostly are. Got it?"

"Understood, but you do realize Angie's just down the hall and **doesn't always stay in her lab**, yes?" Kiyo pointed out. But given her glare, the reminder was less than appreciated. At least until it softened into a frustrated puffy faced pout as she nearly undid her bow with her fidgeting.

Realizing her mistake with a blush, she instead shoved an item in front of his face to try and force things along. A mummified monkey's paw no less. Awfully fitting considering what Monotaro indicated the results of a resurrection could turn out like. And as Kiyo gladly took her bribe, she found her voice.

**"How... do you know when you **_**like**_** someone?"** She asked in a hushed tone.

_Maki has a crush on someone? Who?_ I thought.

Kiyo was silent for a bit before responding. "...If Shuichi gave you this impression then you know surely he'd be a better person for you to ask about this, yes? As far as I'm concerned matters of the heart are a strictly private issue, not one for discussing."

"Well I-I don't _know_ how I feel." Maki stammered, torn between looking embarrassed and angered. "It could be something else. The closest I've come to feeling something like this was for a girl I knew back at the orphanage. Shuichi and Kaito tell each other _everything_ so I can't just ask _him_ about anything..."

_Wait a minute, __**does she have a crush on Kaito**__?_ I thought.

"So you are conflicted on if **this is a crush or more… friendly or familial affections? For our own Kaito**?" The anthropologist asked, echoing my own thoughts.

The assassin had a deep red shade of the blush on her face as she looked down in embarrassment. For such a cold killer, her range of expressions never ceased to amaze.

"...Something like that." Maki mumbled, though it looked more like she was talking to her poorly re-tied and battered bow than to Kiyo with her face still aflame.

"So not quite? Are you also trying to sort out what you felt for your 'friend' back then was too?" The taller student asked.

"Maybe. So... how _would_ I know?"

"I couldn't say. For some friends can be just as important as a lover, and to some others even more so. This is what part of what makes it so personal. How much do you think they mean to you?"

"...I'd be more upset if something happened to Kaito than the rest of you. No offense, but that's really not saying much in this situation. But I was willing to kill for her. So she wouldn't be forced to."

"To be fair willing to kill for his sake here would be suicide at best and detrimental to you both at worst. Is that why you're suspecting you may have felt more for her than just friendship or surrogate sibling?"

"A bit. I mean… it wouldn't be normal to develop feelings in a place like this in such a short amount of time, would it?"

"It's actually more common for strong bonds to develop quickly in times of great stress, so it's far from unusual. Which is why asking someone like Keebo, Kaede, Sharla, or even Tenko may be more useful to you here."

"I think you just mean Kaede and Sharla, the other two aren't exactly open-minded about me. And if I did Kaito might find out what I asked her about. Or worse Kokichi. He's been hanging around her a lot lately."

_Why are they getting __**me**__ involved in this all of a sudden?!_ I off-handily thought.

"Fair point. Would it be so bad to just try talking to Kaito about this? He's brash, but not inconsiderate."

Kiyo must've figured the gaze in Maki's eyes was an enough of an answer. "No need to give me that look, I am being serious. If he had any existing relationships I'm sure he'd say so by now and he's not the sort of person to play with a girl's honest emotions. Would it hurt to try?"

"Fine. I guess I'll think about it. And if any rumors start floating around before then, you're a dead man." The assassin obliged.

"That's a bit drastic wouldn't you say? It's not like you or he have been particularly subtle, as I'm sure you've noticed from the way Kokichi has tried teasing you both before. But rest assured, I won't talk."

"That would be a change." The shorter girl snarked, smirk naturally falling into place with it's signature quirk.

It's almost sad to consider an adorable if unusual physical feature like that might be part of why she hadn't been adopted by a normal family when she still had a chance.

"Alright, poor phrasing on my part. But it's not like I'm one to participate in gossip anyway." Kiyo admitted. "Honestly I'd have much preferred going into the story connected to the paw you have so graciously given me than something of this nature. Or even how your work has affected your own views on the concept of death."

"The one with the three wishes that keep going wrong? I think I've heard that one before. I think I'll stop taking up your time though, just in case Kirumi comes by to check on you again." Maki said. "And… Thank you. It was nice to see Shuichi was right. You aren't as much of a creepy weirdo as you could be. My words, not his."

The anthropologist couldn't help but laugh a little at the irony of it all while he gave her a partial bow as she departed without seeing me behind the katana's glass case. "Kehehe. I'm not sure your assessment, blunt as it was, is truly accurate. But I appreciate your praise, such as it is, all the same and do sincerely wish you the best. I'll be rooting for you, so take care, Maki."

I decided to leave before Kiyo saw me. I managed to get out of his lab and went back to my room. It was a little easier going to sleep this time. I wasn't sure how things will turn out with the new information I just found out.

* * *

The next day, I went for a morning walk until I saw Kaito and Kiyo running in my direction.

"What's going on?" I asked in confusion.

"It's hard to explain right now. It's in Kiyo's lab, come on." Kaito answered as he brought me with him and the anthropologist.

I saw Angie happily bobbing along as per the usual for her. At least Tenko hadn't lost another friend.

When we got into Kiyo's lab, we saw a rather surprising sight...

The body of Maki Harukawa was on the floor of the anthropologist's lab... lying there broken and bloody.

I could hardly even tell where the red of the blood ended and that of her clothing began anymore. I swore parts of the blood nearly looked pink against her crimson if I wasn't looking directly at it. Seeing the mask sloppily laid over her face didn't help either. Particularly given whose it really was.

I noticed Kiyo looking at where Miyuji, Kaede, and Kirumi were talking and I felt like I knew what he was going to do.

_I'm not sure what you're up to Kiyo, but __**I will expose you as the traitor you are**__!_ I thought to myself.


	24. Chapter 3: Beware the MPT - Part 5

**...**

**Begin Deadly Life**

Kaede clearly looked like she still didn't want to believe it. We both thought we were finally regaining some control of our situation. That things were going to get better. How did this happen even though I saw Maki alive last night?

The assassin and faux child caregiver was no stranger to bloodshed, so who could've possibly killed her?

_Was she killed trying to defend herself or did this happen because she attacked someone else? Would Maki really do that?_ I thought to myself.

The fact this was Kiyo's lab we found her body in was a smaller area of concern. Unlike Angie's lab, his didn't have any locks so anyone could've done this if they weren't complying with the student council's nighttime curfew.

While Kirumi told me, Kaede, Miyuji, and Maki that Kiyo wasn't complying, I didn't think this was his doing. Something about how the artifacts were being treated didn't line up. He was too protective of them before.

His surprise at seeing Maki's body looked genuine enough when Kaito brought him for questioning. At least the astronaut was suspecting him less now than from before they ran into me. Not that it was saying much, Kaito's still quite clearly a wreck.

Shuichi and Ryoma were trying to ease Kaito's nerves but they were also too shaken to be of much help despite the detective's sharp eyes and investigation skills. No one objected when the three excused themselves to see if there was anything else around that could be connected. I figured too many of us felt ashamed of how they treated Kaede and Ryoma before to complain.

"For the sake of our investigation does anyone have any complaints **if I go over Maki's body**? Unless Gonta would rather try, as he might be more used to corpses than I am. Not human ones of course." Kirumi calmly asked.

I couldn't help but notice that Kiyo kept glancing at her like he had an objection, but he must've thought better of it as he resumed looking into what else in his lab might be involved here instead.

"Gonta can't! Gonta not... not smart enough to be useful like Kirumi. Kirumi smart so she do good. Besides, it not proper for gentlemen to touch a lady without her permission." Gonta was trying to hide a light blush that came with his explanation, an odd contrast to the tear tracks that still stained his face.

"It is a bit late to ask her about that sort of thing I'm afraid. Particularly if we think we should check her for **injuries that may be unrelated to the fall**. I doubt anything else could be the cause of death, however. **You can see where the banister underneath her broke off from even from where we're standing.**"

I had to crane my head up to see what Kiyo was talking about but he was right, on the highest level there was a break in the rails. With little prompting, Tenko made her way up the stairs as quickly as she could to see if there were signs of a struggle or any other clues as Angie followed, hoping all the way.

_I'm impressed they have the stamina for that, since that's on the fifth floor. Why is this lab so damn tall?!_ I off-handily thought.

While the two were up there, Kirumi informed all of us that she kept finding some sort of ashes on Maki's body she couldn't explain. Kaede must've thought better of bringing up the candles she sent Ryoma and Maki to collect, as neither me or her wanted Angie to become aware of our attempt at sabotage, and as neither him nor the artist were here no comment was made about it possibly being the Necronomicon.

_This might get messy if it needs to come up in the trial though. Was Maki's death an accident her killer tried to undo? I don't know if someone other than Angie, Kaede, and I knew how this motive worked._ I thought to myself.

Nothing else seemed out of place though, no weapons or injuries on her that didn't make sense. Except for the weird stone mask that was laid over Maki's face, modern looking in all but it's medium.

"Why the bloody hell would anyone get _Sun Witch __ Esper Ito_ into this anyway?!" Tokuko yelled before calming herself. "Actually why is her mask even in here? It can't _really_ be culturally relevant right? Beyond normal festival masks I mean."

_Leave it to Tokuko to know what on Bionis that thing was or where it was from. It really is out of place._ I thought.

"You aren't wrong about what it is, but what it represents is a fair bit different." Kiyo began, despite the actress' brief attempts to assure him that he didn't have to. But there was no retracting an excuse for him to lecture. "This is the mask most associated with the serial killer Kirakira Seigi or 'Sparkling Justice' who supposedly came from Spain. Naturally given the title and style of their trademark mask I am inclined to doubt that theory, as it's too distinctly Japanese to think they would consider Spain to be their only point of origin, but they do make for an interesting modern connection to both cultures as a result. Being a serial killer who exclusively kills others of their ilk in poetic gruesome recreations of the targeted serial killer's preferred methods also taps into various other figures and notions regarding popular concepts of 'Justice' and 'Karma'."

"For all her early objections, the lesson stirred the rose-wearing girl's interest enough that she was simply bubbling with questions, as if we _weren't_ still talking in the middle of a murder scene. "Is a stone mask really their trademark? What do you mean 'they', is there more than one person who uses this name? Do you think it's related to that other Kira-"

"**No.** For all of those things." The anthropologist sternly cut her off, but he obviously enjoyed having peaked her interest as he lead her off to a side of the room to continue without bothering anyone's work. "First off, the person known as Sparkling Justice is elusive so their gender is a point of debate, though I do lean in favor of that person being male myself, so I tried being as neutral as I could. Second, typically the mask they use is of the common cheap plastic affairs so I can't really explain why this is was made to be so much more permanent and without any of its common colors either I'm afraid." And with his more basic deductions done his tone soured. "Third, I _just_ told you they were thought to be _Spanish_ so any similarities this has to a certain older manga are likely coincidence."

I gave Tokuko a sympathetic smile at seeing her flinch at Kiyo's surprisingly harsh response before asking a question of my own. "So do you think this mask was used to accuse Maki of something? Or mock her because of her talent? I mean an assassin and a serial killer would be kind of different right?"

"The irony is highly possible if the _Kirakira_ connection to this design is known, and they are distinct enough that all of _Kirakira_'s confirmed kills did what they did out of passion rather than a paycheck." Kiyo responded.

"Should we be concerned by how our biggest suspect knows so much about niche serial killers?" Kokichi piped up from the second floor, staring down at us with his chin resting on his folded arms. Something felt off about him though. He was smiling like a cat toying with a mouse but there was a new cruelty to it.

"If you want to be that's your own prerogative I'm sure. I merely felt it best to be aware given how often I travel and get considered to be either highly suspicious or a person of interest in dangerous situations." The anthropologist called back up to him, looking annoyed by how loud the supreme leader was to make sure he was heard.

The purple-haired boy paused for a moment to look up and theatrically held his hands to his mouth before calling up to the highest floor. "HEY ANGIE YOU STILL GOT THAT WEIRDO BOOK ON YOU?!"

The artist's head poked over the broken railing looking for Kokichi before she replied, both of them ignoring Kiyo's seething down below them. "Nooope, **it went missing sometime yesterday**! Why?"

"Any reason why someone might have wanted to burn it beyond it being obviously evil and stupid?"

"Oh? Did someone find an effigy of Maki with ashes on it?"

"Depends, does _her fucking corpse_ count as an 'effigy'? 'Cause this is one duuusty cun-"

That last bit of vulgarity proved to be Kiyo's last straw. "Can you both _please_ stop yelling?! You'll find the room carries sound very well on it's own."

"Hey we're being helpful Kiyo, stop complaining!" Kokichi yelled back down. "This isn't even a _real_ library, jeez."

The anthropologist's eye actually twitched as he struggled to restrain himself. "Allow me to rephrase then, if you don't settle down I _will_ come up there and **tear out your tongues**."

"Sharlaaaaaaaa Kiyo's threatening meeeeeeeee~" The supreme leader cried out.

_Oh for the love of-! Isn't Kirumi your mom?!_ I thought as I turned to face Kiyo. "Sorry Kiyo, just bear with this for now. Or maybe you can check out one of the other rooms? Like if the book went missing, maybe Angie's lab has something."

"Oh yes, because leaving these relics unattended with Kokichi and Angie around is a simply _marvelous_ idea." He replied, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"They are far from unattended." Kirumi assured him. "I will do my best to keep them from causing harm to any of your other pieces Kiyo. Feel free to help Shuichi, Ryoma, and Kaito if you think it may be of more benefit to us."

She gave him a look that was hard to tell if it was understanding or pity as the maid returned the mask to it's proper place in the glass case. Kiyo looked reluctant, almost angry, to follow her suggestion but he hardly had any reason not to do so with how much stress seeing his room crowded caused him.

With the anthropologist out of the way, Angie continued to confirm it was probably the Necronomicon that was burned, though she didn't think a body would count as an effigy in this case. That would explain why Maki was still obviously dead at any rate. Unless the ritual never had a chance at succeeding.

I felt a bit more at ease going around the room now, and I quickly found another distressing detail. The golden katana was gone. The sheath wasn't, which was why I didn't notice at first, but the blade was nowhere to be found. When I asked, Kirumi confirmed she didn't see anything that looked like it had been hit by a rusty sword, which only made it's absence all the more suspicious.

Seeing nothing else of note, me and Kaede left to see if anyone else had made any progress. The two of us then saw Shuichi, Ryoma, Kaito, and Kiyo heading back from Angie's lab.

"Did you guys find anything?" Kaede asked.

"You mean aside from the wax museum thing she had going on?" Ryoma answered in sarcasm. "Not much, Kiyo saw **some gold leaf might be missing from her art supplies** and Angie's probably a bit loopier than we already thought."

"Now now Ryoma, making mementos to honor those that are gone is a common response to grief, and I find her attention to detail to be rather touching." Kiyo explained. "Obviously, they lack the particular beauty that comes with bearing the human soul but she matched their likenesses to an otherwise astounding degree, yes?"

"You mean she made things that look like they crawled right out of the uncanny valley of robotics man!" Kaito argued, which given Shuichi's sigh, wasn't the first time he made his discomfort over the figures known.

As the anthropologist shook his head with a shrug, he paused as a thought came to mind. "...I do hope you won't use such a phrase within earshot of Keebo, that could be considered most rude."

_Actually where is Keebo anyway? Or Tokuko? Did they go to find Monosuke for the file since it's late? There's a better question to be asking here though. We'll see both of them soon enough I'm sure._ I thought to myself.

"Why would gold leaf be missing?" I asked to help address the more relevant evidence. "It's not like money matters in here or anything. **Do you think it's related to the anthropology lab's katana? I couldn't find the blade and it's the only gold thing here.**"

"Huh? You sure Sharla? Kiyo, you didn't say anything about that!" Kaito exclaimed in response.

"Didn't I? Must have slipped my mind, my apologies. Besides, it struck me as a more personal issue, given how **Kirumi hadn't mentioned finding rust in any of her injuries**." The taller boy admitted. "The blade hasn't been taken care of well at all, so I can't see how something that rusted could be used here, and **had someone recently held the handle or sheath we'd find gold on their hands from where the leaf coating tends to peel off**."

"So Angie's missing supply could just be **someone trying to replace the older gold leaf that came off when they messed with the sword without permission?**" Shuichi suggested.

_**Or a sign someone was setting something up.**_ I thought.

"I could believe that, the sword has been missing since at least last night and I suspect it was taken when I spoke with Kaede yesterday." Kiyo continued. "As its uses as a weapon are limited I didn't feel a need to worry anyone, given how Maki's lab allows for equally easy access to a wider array of much more effective tools to use."

"Seriously man? You still shoulda said something so we could help you find it!" Kaito exclaimed, though the anthropologist seemed to just brush him off.

As Shuichi, Ryoma, and Kaito continued to ask about the missing antique, me and Kaede saw Keebo, Tokuko, and Miyuji come out of one of the classrooms Maki and Ryoma took candles from before. It wasn't clear how long they tried investigating in there, but without the candles the two of us assumed they'd be pitch black so we were confused.

"Hey, aren't those rooms a bit too dark to be checking? Or are the candles back now? Kirumi did say something about finding ashes on Maki's body so I'm not sure where else a fire could be from." The pianist asked them, trying to hide our involvement in the candles being moved to avoid concerning Angie later.

"Not to worry, **my new flashlight function** was more than sufficient enough to be most thorough in our investigations!" Keebo happily informed her. "**Kirumi had said she saw Maki remove a set of candles from this area before, and they are indeed still missing.** Aside from that, we didn't see anything unusual though, so this is unlikely to matter."

"Even if it is kinda pink for a flashlight…" Tokuko softly muttered behind him, looking kinda embarrassed for how improvised this 'function' was.

"Would you rather have Keebo use a different color? He should have a more traditional yellow too." Miyuji asked the actress.

Before the two could get dragged into a debate over Keebo's abilities, Kaede quickly tried to excuse herself. "I don't think that's the issue, but that's still good to hear!"

Once Monosuke gave us the murder file, all of us returned to Kiyo's lab so everyone would have access to the file's contents.

At the very least it did confirm the fall was what killed her, so the missing katana could be unrelated. She was also killed at midnight which with the council's curfew further narrowed down their list of suspects.

_Being shoved through the railing could also make this look like her killer acted in self defense. But Maki doesn't like swords and if she had it then it'd still be here. There'd be no reason for anyone to have hid it, it's not like we can test blood or anything. __**Unless they just didn't want us to know there was a fight?**_ I thought to myself.

* * *

After a long conversation about the Caged Child séance Kiyo wanted to do, I went out into the hall with Kaede and Miyuji. Kiyo wanted the vocalist to be the spirit medium but Kirumi made the offer instead to the anthropologist's dismay. He accepted the maid's offer anyway and Angie agreed to help with the séance.

_Miyuji did seem a little disturbed by the séance in the first place so her decision to join me and Kaede is understandable. __**At least Kirumi prevented what Kiyo was planning to do to her.**_ I thought to myself.

The three of us found Kaito, Shuichi, and Ryoma at the end of the hall, past the three empty classrooms Kiyo wanted to use, into the area that looked more mechanical. The astronaut probably took off the second Angie said 'séance' as he was clearly having some sort of panic attack again, while Shuichi and Ryoma were comforting him where they could.

At least that's all we thought the detective and the tennis pro were helping with before Kaito turned to look at us.

"K-Kaito, are you OK?! **You're bleeding!**" Kaede asked in worry and shock upon seeing blood dripping off Kaito's mouth.

"I know, nothing to worry about. Just bit my tongue wrong earlier, it's nothing I promise." The astronaut assured her, but me and Ryoma didn't buy it. This was really hard to believe with my experience as a medic.

"Are they really going through with Kiyo's 'Caged Child' ritual Miyuji?" Shuichi asked.

"That's the plan, but I wouldn't call it a waste. I mean I can understand if Angie and Kiyo think it's the only way they can help investigate right now." The vocalist responded. "It's not like we have a whole lot of evidence yet, or any ideas where else to look for some. Speaking of which, **they probably need those candles back now**."

"Humph. Likely right about that. Maki and I just put those things in our rooms so I'll get them. If her's is locked they'll still be enough to put one in each room for now anyway. I'll be right back." Despite his attempt at an aloof attitude, Ryoma was gone in the blink of an eye and so was Shuichi. It was still a shock to see how fast he could be when he took something seriously, especially up close unlike when he avoided Tenko before.

_And this is him being 'rusty', not in his prime or anything! The world of tennis must be super impressive. Maybe I should try asking him more about it some time. He's mostly just hung out with Kaito, Maki, and Kiyo as far as I know so branching out a bit more might be nice for him._ I thought to myself.

"What are you two talking about?" Kaito asked, but not with suspicion despite their situation. That didn't make Kaede any less nervous as she decided to answer him honestly, since Angie wasn't in earshot.

"When me and Sharla joined the council we were able to look at the motive the bears gave us. It couldn't be used if Angie couldn't burn it, so to be on the safe side we asked Maki, Ryoma, and Miyuji to hide any sources of fire we could. Since they were the closest to her the candles were the first things to go. Just to buy us a bit more time." She explained.

"Hmm, good thinking then. Ya coulda tried telling me earlier though, I wasn't going to talk to her." The astronaut snarked.

"We know, we just didn't want to risk being overheard or overloading you or anything." I said. "Are you really alright? I mean your health wasn't the best before and now Maki's..."

"I told you, I don't need you worrying over me! I'm fine. Guys are tough ya' know, just focus on yourself." Kaito tried offering me a cheesy large grin and a thumbs up as if to prove his words, but I knew better. I could see he was pushing himself, but returned his grin with a weak smile and nodded back anyway.

_He's too stubborn to accept anything else from me right now. He'll just need some more time. Then when he's ready I can only hope he'll seek me, Shuichi, Kaede, or Ryoma out. I'm not ready to try fighting with him about this._ I thought.

Me, Kaede, and Miyuji helped the astronaut take refuge in the computer lab when we saw Angie, Kirumi, and Kiyo come out of his lab, heading towards the three classrooms. Given what they were saying it sounded like they were just checking to see which of the three should be used for their ritual, to see if any of them 'felt' right.

When Kaito insisted he'd be fine there alone the three of us went back to wait for Ryoma and the candles, but we couldn't tell who went into each room. But the tennis pro was true to his word as it was only a matter of minutes before he got back with five candles in hand. Not six. So one room would be short a candle.

Kaede tried asking him about the missing one but he only said he couldn't find it in Maki's room. He assumed she may had it with her when she died and then someone else took it, as with the warehouse locked there wouldn't be that many other sources of fire to burn whatever made the ashes on her body.

Angie's timing couldn't be better as she walked out of the middle room at that moment, so I was able to give her the fifth candle to return it to that. Luckily she was too grateful to us for 'finding' it to ask how we managed it in the first place, but I couldn't help but notice her hands had some gold flecks on them that weren't there before. At least I thought it was gold, with how they caught the light.

Rather than comment on it, given how messy making art could be and how she just may have missed them before in the lab's lighting, me and Miyuji took our two candles with one in each of our right hands and headed towards the one on our left as we faced them while Ryoma and Kaede took the remaining two to the side room farthest right.

Me and the vocalist had no idea what a mistake that would turn out to be.

The color of crimson blood on the floorboards was the first thing we saw and when we turned to the source of the blood, Miyuji let out a loud blood-curdling scream from the horrific sight.


	25. Chapter 3: Beware the MPT - Part 6

Sitting there across from the door was Kirumi Tojo, but I couldn't register what I was seeing at first.

It looked like the maid. Her dress was right. Even the way she was seated suited her, even if it was more of a seiza from what she could see than something more Victorian like the sandy blonde-haired girl generally leaned towards.

But it was hard to focus with how her bleeding head was seated in her hands like it was a teacup.

I wasn't sure when exactly Miyuji let out a blood-curdling scream, but as Angie and Kiyo showed up it must have been loud enough to be heard from the hall. The body discovery announcement only played as soon as Kaede and Ryoma joined us. If anyone was able to speak I wasn't able to tell due to my shock. This isn't the first time I've seen dead bodies but this still shocked me.

Kirumi wasn't dead a few minutes ago. She was fine and helping everyone. So how could this happen?

_Who on Bionis would risk killing someone while investigating another murder? __**Did they not know about the first come, first served rule?**__ No one could graduate from this. This was just a senseless act violence._ I thought to myself.

By the texture of cotton wraps through my clothing, I guessed it was Kiyo who tried leading me away from the scene, to give me a chance to sit down and collect myself. But I couldn't make it to an actual chair, instead slumping down against the opposing wall to sit on the floor upon reaching the hallway.

But not seiza-style. I clutched my legs to my chest in hopes of the pressure would help keep the vile burning at the back of my throat at bay. It didn't matter how dirty anything was right now.

I managed to get the confidence to walk back to the bloody room when Kaito put his jacket on my shoulders. Even if Kirumi's murderer wasn't one who needed to be found they couldn't risk a killer anonymously hiding among them, and it may relate to Maki's death too.

Nothing was changed about the corpse yet. As Kirumi was in charge of checking Maki's body there was some confusion of who should take over for this one, and it wasn't a task anyone wanted either. I decided to take the autopsy myself and it was agreed that Kiyo would be with me even though he looked reluctant to do it himself. At least there was no need for him to close Kirumi's eyes the way he had for Himiko, but since the maid was posed in such an unnatural fashion even if her eyes were open it wouldn't have made things any easier.

None of her clothing was damaged, only bloodied, so we assumed for now her cause of death was the wound to her neck. The anthropologist probably used the term 'decapitation'. I managed to put the candles back to their proper spots. I didn't have to light them since Keebo was there and using another one of Miu's final gifts to us. The room was already lit with his cushy pink glow, completely at odds with the gore it illuminated.

I managed to get a hold of myself. But before I could ask if everyone knew about the rules regarding two separate murders Kokichi started yelling from the crawl space underneath us.

"WHOA, HOLD UP NOBODY ELSE MOVE UP THERE OKAY! NOT UNLESS YOU'RE AROUND THE EDGES."

"What are you talking about Kokichi?" I asked.

"I'll show you what I'm talking about!" The supreme leader exclaimed.

Regardless of his claim nothing seemed to change, the only sound was some grunting like he was struggling to reach something. A floorboard knocked a little when a small smack sounded beneath it, but given the pained cry that accompanied it, that wasn't the intent.

"Ow ow ow, that stupid plumber made this look soooo much easier. Did anyone see **the board that moved**? 'Cause I'm going to need someone to gently put some weight on that one or something OK?"

"I think I did." Kaede spoke up.

"O-Oh, nope, someone who _isn't_ Kaede please." The purple-haired boy muttered.

In hindsight, his words were probably well meant. But the pianist didn't have hindsight to keep her rational. She was just a very stressed young woman dealing with a sudden wave of frustration over every stressful thing that life had thrown at her, mistaking his concern for mockery.

And unfortunately for them both, the voice that caused the unintentional insult was right under her feet.

"I said I can do it Kokichi!" She shouted as against his suggestion she stomped on the board as hard as she could. The once secure floorboard giving way under her took her by surprise as she fell forward for a moment, looking down at Kokichi's terrified expression through the new gap.

She couldn't breathe before Gonta lifted her from behind. With his other hand the entomologist caught the other end of the board that flew up, the corner only a few inches away from Kaede's eye. Kokichi's face still nearly as white as his coat as he took a relieved sigh from what I could see.

"I said gently! Jeez, for someone who has good hearing you really don't listen well do you? Hey yo, TERF war, you're on Kaede watch duty now OK!" The supreme leader called up again, his cheerful mask back in place, pointing at Tenko best he could from where he was. Or rather at what little of her green ribbon he saw.

"'Turf war'? What's that supposed to mean?" The aikido master asked.

"Oh, I think you know _exactly_ what I mean Tenko." The purple-haired boy mocked. "So why not do your freakin' job already and keep at least one girl here safe? You've reeeeally been bad at it so far, since we've lost like _half_ of you by now."

Tenko turned to look at Gonta as she put her hands on Kaede's shoulders, ready to led her traumatized friend somewhere less dangerous to recover again. "Gonta can you please just drop the board on him?"

"What?! No, that could really hurt Kokichi! Board very heavy. **But nothing was loose before...**" The entomologist said.

"I think **the crosspiece was sawed through on that side, resulting in that seesaw effect we just witnessed**. But how and why would someone do that? The warehouse should still be locked, so where else could someone retrieve a saw? Are there any suitable for this in Angie or Maki's labs?" Keebo replied, eyes and the rest of him still having a surreal pink glow as he spoke.

"Uhh... yes! There should be **saws that could do this in Angie's lab**! Angie often uses wood for sculptures, and it'd take a looot longer if she only had small chisels to make them." Angie explained. "But **Angie locked the doors last night**, so no one else should have had access to them she thinks. **Nothing has gone missing either**."

"No worries Angie, I don't think that's it. **Maki has a bunch of serrated blades and stuff that'd probably work and hers can't be locked**. She's also the only one who'd be able to tell us if anything's gone too." Ryoma answered, looking only a little troubled at the idea these two deaths really could be connected.

"This isn't the only booby-trapped room either! **The other two rooms also have the same crosspiece cut**. All the rooms are connected down here, and I think I found **what was just used to kill Kirumi** too." Kokichi said.

Me, Kaede, Tenko, and Miyuji agreed to come under the floorboards to see the murder weapon for ourselves. The supreme leader was a little upset but as there was no helping it he showed us where the weapon was, following a trail of blood to the room next door. The room Angie had been checking out before.

There was the missing katana, still dripping with Kirumi's blood, along the wall just below the gap in the floorboards you could use to enter the room above it at the end of it's bloody path.

_**The katana that leaves a sticky gold residue on anyone's hands who touches it**__. Gold like what I saw on Angie's before? That doesn't sound right. Why on Bionis would she have killed Kirumi like this? They were supposed to be on the same side. And how could something so rusty cut well enough to do… that. Unless... **the killer's trying to frame her.**_ I thought to myself.

* * *

I didn't still didn't know if the gold flakes on Angie's hands were connected to the katana used to kill Kirumi even when it was time to head down to the trial room for the class trial. No one said a thing as the elevator headed down to our destination with all of us on it. As I got onto my podium with the one on my left now occupied by a portrait of Kirumi's crossed off face, images of both Maki and the maid's corpses flashed in my mind.

_Maki and Kirumi... two of the most mature students in this academy have died._ I thought to myself.

Images of Angie and the blood-stained katana flashed in my mind.

_**Not only is the first come, first served rule in play, but someone is framing Angie for Kirumi's death...**__ I have to expose them as __**both a killer and one of the traitors!**_

Finally, images of everyone flashed in my mind.

_**I already know who that traitor is**__, I will make them remember! They won't get away with these murders... even if they didn't commit one of them. It's time to fight... I'll fight for the sake of everyone still alive in this trial of truth and lies!_


	26. Chapter 3: Beware the MPT - Part 7

**Class Trial - IN SESSION**

**...**

All of us went to our proper podiums again, with three new crossed out portraits filling up our ranks. Miu's was naturally the first that I turned to, her eyes staring back at me from between the three crosses going across her face. I wondered if it was because of the inventor's lewdness or a comment on how 'strong' her personality, like alcohol, but it felt fitting in a darkly humorous sort of way. Miu still would've probably appreciated this little joke either way, if she was here to see it. But she wasn't.

Reluctantly I turned from Miu's face to see those of my other lost friends to my left. It was hard to avoid thinking about whose face would be joining these monochrome memorials after this too. But even that was more pleasant than to really see where Maki and Kirumi's deaths left us.

Ryoma was alone now, flanked on both sides with dead faces. That of one of his closest friends in this academy, and the other the girl who threatened his life to escape it. But at least the latter's absence made it easier for Kaito, Shuichi, and him to share glances now, for what little support that could give each other.

Though these looks would also mean every time the astronaut faced the tennis pro he'd see the harsh reminder of Maki's death looming over him. I couldn't imagine what seeing that must be like for any of them.

The red lines hardly looked out of place for Maki's, but the cross was placed less like an X and more like a plus sign. Or more accurately a rifle's scope, given the circle around it. It was almost a blessing her cause of death wasn't up in the air like Himiko's initially was, since we at least knew for sure she wasn't really shot.

Kirumi's portrait was pretty bland in comparison. The lines were cleaner and crisper than Rantaro's, but less artistic than Tsumugi's, just a plain formal X on the center of her face. Like checking off a box on a grocery list or a voting ballot. Not that any of us ever voted for her to do anything.

But there wasn't much time fo contemplation. Our lives were all on the lines again.

After the Monokubs went over the basic explanation and got into an argument soon afterwards Kaito took the opportunity to begin our discussion. "Let's just ignore them for now you guys. Sorry if I can't be of much help this time."

"Not to worry, no one blames you Kaito." Keebo quickly dismissed with a sympathetic look. "Between the first victim and your illness this was expected."

"My what? Who said anything about me being sick?! I'm not sick, I'm as hearty as a horse!" The astronaut exclaimed.

"Suuure you are Kaito. You really want to admit you've just been scared shitless this whole time?" Kokichi mocked.

"FUCK YOU KOKICHI, I ain't afraid of-"

"No ghost?" Kokichi finished for him with a matching unnatural ghostlike grin on his face and a cackle.

_How the fuck does he even make expressions like that?!_ I thought.

"Can you two not make this a long bloody ghost joke? We already had a failed séance and no zombies." Tokuko said as she put a hand to her face, making Tenko nod in agreement.

"Does it count as a failure if we never got to start it?" Angie asked, acting as if nothing was wrong.

"We ended up with more dead people than we had when you wackos started, hell yeah it counts!" Kaito shouted, looking appalled he had to point it out to her.

While the artist huffed, Kiyo took the chance to make his argument instead. "It wouldn't have failed, **someone just took advantage of the few of us isolating ourselves for that brief window of time to kill Kirumi**. But we should answer the question of who attacked Maki first yes?"

"No! Kirumi's the freshest so she should be the one we focus on." Tenko shot back, banging against the front railing of her podium with her momentum before pointing at Kiyo. "Besides, it's obvious whoever killed Maki is the one who would have tried attacking you guys. Or BE one of you guys. So Kiyo's the culprit!"

Shuichi stepped in before the anthropologist had the chance to defend himself though. "Easy there Tenko. **Angie's the only one who had the gold on her hands from the gold katana that was used to kill her and it was Angie who wanted to perform the séance**, so shouldn't she be our prime suspect? **The only sources of gold leaf we have are that sword and the supply from her lab**, Kaito, Ryoma, and I checked."

"Nuh-uh, Angie would never kill anybody! A degenerate like Kiyo's way more likely, it was his katana. Besides if there was gold on the underside of all the handles in those rooms wouldn't that make not getting any on him suspicious? I mean Kirumi wouldn't since she never tried to leave before… you know." Tenko trailed off as the memory of the horrifying scene made her lose steam.

"**Anyone could enter my lab and take it**, and not having gold on my hands still proves I could not have handled that katana." Kiyo explained. "And with the game's **'first come, first served' rule** why should we assume one person is responsible for both crimes? As the only blackened we need to find is Maki's killer should we not focus our efforts on that culprit first?"

"I agree with Kiyo, there will be time to go over Kirumi's death later. We can even sort out who killed her outside of the court if we run out of time before we can settle it." Ryoma said, giving Kirumi's portrait a wary glance.

"Yeah! Besides Maki has more possible suspects too, so settling her death will take some more time." Miyuji agreed.

"Why would the killings be unrelated though, aren't they a bit too close together to be a coincidence?" Angie wondered. "If we uncover Kirumi's killer it may help narrow down potential suspects for Maki too, if the two aren't one and the same. But Angie isn't responsible for either of these, I swear by Atua's name."

"Is 'Atua' really their name, or just what they are? Merely asking out of genuine curiosity I assure you." Kiyo asked, and despite his claim the question had an unmistakable snark to it earning him a glare.

"Hush up you heretic, Angie need not speak His name. That's a higher member benefit." The artist said in a dark tone.

"I… I guess the two could be related? I mean Kirumi was the one investigating Maki's body so maybe the killer chose to attack her just in case she noticed something in addition to wanting to stop the séance." Kaede suggested, unsure of what else to say.

"Then Kiyo's still the killer because he chose Kirumi to act as the medium-" Tenko was about to say before she was cut off.

"No, he didn't Tenko! Kirumi ask him for job. Gonta may no be able to help but he still hear that right." Gonta argued.

"Exactly. And Angie was the one who chose the rooms we were going to use, I only said they needed to be dark." Kiyo explained. "It would appear the katana used to cut off the head of our maid was hidden under those rooms. Had I been the one to kill her why wouldn't I have simply used a weapon from Maki's lab instead?"

"Why would anyone have used a katana in that poor condition then? It is most surprising it is able to cut as well it is despite it's current state. Maki's lab would be a plain better place to take something like this from, wouldn't it? It's probably where **the knife Kiyo found in Kirumi's apron came from too**." Keebo pointed out.

"Oooh I know, I know! Angie had to use it because she'd be too short to reach Kirumi's neck with anything else!" Kokichi said, hopping up and down as he raised his hand like a kid with a look that screamed he knew he was wrong and just merrily teasing them again. And so the robot took the bait.

"Negative, that is both illogical and unlikely. While none of Maki's weapons are as long as the katana's blade the angle of the cut wouldn't be this even if that were the case, there'd be a slope to it. Besides **Kirumi may not have even been standing when she was attacked**."

"Umm, wouldn't there need to be a lot of force behind the swing too? Angie isn't sure why everybody's only picking on her and Kiyo." Angie said, looking a little confused as Kiyo only shrugged.

Seeing as it was easy to clear up I explained this one. "**It's because of the announcement.** It only rings when **three people not including the killer find a body**, and it didn't ring until Kaede and Ryoma caught up to me and Miyuji. Unless anyone thinks I could've done this too?"

"Ah, fair point. I hadn't noticed. Are you sure that's when it rang Sharla?" Kiyo asked as he, Angie, Miyuji, Kaede, and Ryoma took a moment to mentally go over what happened. "Everything was rather hectic at that point I'm afraid. I hardly remember the bell ringing at all, and I wasn't in nearly as much shock as you, Miyuji, and Kaede were at the time, my apologies."

"Yeah, sorry Sharla but I don't really remember hearing anything other than Miyuji screaming either when me and Kaede caught up with you four." Ryoma reluctantly agreed, giving Angie a wary glance as she still seemed to be thinking it over and coming up blank. "It could have rang, don't get me wrong, but I wasn't really paying attention to that thing in the first place."

_...Am I sure? I mean a lot was going on and we've heard it so often now. I couldn't really catch what anyone was saying either. And I don't want to accuse either of them. __**Or is Kiyo trying to gaslight us, and just tricked Ryoma and Kaede? Why would he kill Kirumi? He'd have to have blood or something on him right**__\- OH!_ I thought before giving my theory. "Hmm, maybe you're right. I mean neither of you has her blood on you- well I mean **Kiyo has some on his bandages **_**now**_** but only from touching her**, he didn't when he offered to help- and with how... messy it all was that's pretty unlikely, isn't it? **Especially since the killer also posed her.**"

"But no one here got blood on them. **Could killer have been under boards to stay clean? That why crosspiece cut?**" Gonta asked, struggling to picture what might explain this.

"Gonta makes a good point, the crosspieces don't seem to be related to anything. Unless it made Kirumi trip, to help set up the attack maybe?" Tokuko suggested.

"No, had that been the case Kirumi would have most likely suffered at least a head wound. We saw Kaede nearly fall prey to it, and who knows what would have befallen her if not for Gonta's intervention." Keebo said, though he looked frustrated that this left the boards unexplained for this.

"**Then how else would someone hide the blood?** I mean there was so much of it and nobody found any sheets or anything to clean any of it up or block the splatter right?" Miyuji asked.

I closed my eyes as I began to think to myself.

_Let's see… we ruled out using something to cover them since we didn't find anything._

_Even Angie's lab doesn't have a sink so there was definitely no way for anyone to wash the blood off._

…_But hiding it UNDER something we'd expect a person to normally wear could work if it covered enough of them. Particularly if they were one of the three checking rooms for the séance, since no one would see them without it. Which would only leave __**one person**__._

_But none of this is making any sense even if __**he is one of the remaining traitors**__. What motive could __**he**__ possibly have to do something like this?_

I opened my eyes as I spoke. "I think I know the trick to this now you guys. If you'll let me explain my theory on how this happened..."

I looked around the room, and everyone gave their approval. No one had any distinct ideas at all. So I began painting the scene for them with my words and the sound of my voice the best I could.

"First the culprit set up the three rooms sometime before today. Cutting through the crossbeams and applying gold leaf to the handles would take too long for this to be anything other than premeditated. I can't explain the floorboard trap, but it could be to help distract anyone who found this by accident.

Today, when someone else suggested these rooms be used for the séance it was time for that premeditation to pay off. They made sure only one person went into each room, themselves, their victim, and the one they planned to frame for this. Ideally, their fall guy was the one who'd suggest this.

They wouldn't need to do anything for their mark to set themselves up, since they'd likely touch the loose gold when trying to leave the room, making it look like they've touched the golden katana.

Not only would the culprit know to avoid the gold there, the victim wouldn't have a chance to touch it either, so if we didn't notice the handles we'd assume there was no other way for the gold to be there. They may have even originally planned to clean the other two handles, since they set it up so it wouldn't matter who went into each room, but obviously they never got the chance so we weren't fooled by this.

But that doesn't explain how they kept their hands clean to start with. That ties into how they didn't seem to get anything on them.

They went under the floor, where the three rooms are all connected, and took off their jacket. They already planted the katana in that crawlspace, so it was a vital area for them both to keep their weapon out of sight and provide a way to get into the victim's room without being seen.

Since there weren't any bloodied covers in this area that means whatever they used to hide the blood they'd get on them is still with them. Here there are two possibilities. They could have left their coat down there to make sure it'd stay clean, dropping it off when they got the katana or vice versa. Or they took off their coat, turned it inside out, and tied it around their waist like an apron to help keep any blood from getting on their legs. I think the latter's more likely here.

After that, they pick up the katana and go to the room they know Kirumi entered so none of the gold would get anywhere they couldn't explain later. They have to act fast because while the rooms are dark since there aren't any candles it also means she'd be tempted to leave soon. Maybe they even said something to help make her pause or used the seesaw trap to distract her.

Ultimately they succeeded in decapitating her. It could be due to the killer having a light source on them or just the length of the blade covering a lot of the room but their goal was achieved. After doing so they moved her body to the wall near where they entered, posing her as if it was for a twisted tea ceremony.

With how general the pose is in practice even that could have been done in the dark, and I'm not entirely sure why they chose to move her like this at all. It could be to keep her away from the seesaw trap in the center of the room, but it's really hard to say.

To get rid of the gold and blood from their hands they remove the wrappings they put there. The cotton strips could then be used to help touch up any other clean up they need to do on the walk back to the room they'd be expected to leave from. But first, they'd stop to put the blood-soaked katana under the room their patsy was in to further implicate them of this crime.

With the katana gone and blood mostly out of the way they put their jacket back on, over their probably blood covered shirt, and stuff the soiled wrappings in one of their pockets while applying some fresh bandages so that we'd be none the wiser that they changed at all as we'd notice if they were missing.

That's probably around the time me and Miyuji found Kirumi's body, since everything happened so fast. It wasn't hard to look like they were just worried about what was going on when they joined the rest of us, and if they needed to adjust anything else we'd all be distracted trying to find out what was going on even if the body was found sooner than they were planning on.

I wasn't imagining the bell delay before either. Since they needed to see what Miyuji was screaming about as soon as they could to keep from being suspicious, they really were one of the first four to see the body.

So… **the easiest way to for us to see if I've got this wrong would be for you to take off your jacket Kiyo**. Otherwise, there's no one else who could do it this way. No one could enter or leave those rooms without anyone else noticing, and at least Angie's hands would still have blood on them if she tried my method."

The room was silent as I held my accusatory position and the others turned to look at him. But despite the horrors he's accused of he isn't upset. Kiyo doesn't seem bothered by _any_ of this in the slightest. And that wasn't the worst of it.

_He's __**smiling**__. There's no doubt about the expression under that mask. He's accused of murder and he looks like a child who just got a brand new set of toys to play with! Something isn't right here. I know he's kind of messed up and that he's one of the traitors but this is going too far! How can he possibly be so __**happy**__ about this right now?!_ I thought to myself.

"Nicely done Sharla! I'm most impressed, I'm sure that'd deductions would even make Shuichi proud. You're always so full of _wonderful_ surprises. You are absolutely correct! But so there is no room for doubt here I will concede, and I do apologize if it is unduly upsetting to any of you."

There really wasn't any doubts as he laid his coat along the railing of his podium. There's so much blood his white undershirt could nearly be mistaken for Maki's top, it's even worse than his bandages were. He made no move to take off the bandages though, since considering everything he really didn't need to. But even as he stood before them in his bloodied button down he didn't seem the least bit nervous.

"Though I must also confess, the trick with the floorboards really is unrelated here." The anthropologist said. "That was just a remnant of a plan I scrapped after seeing it might be too difficult to properly utilize. Though had I stuck with it Kirumi would have died all the same, during the caged dog séance. Any other questions?"

"...What the actual fuck?" Kaito muttered.

"Do be more specific Kaito. I can't answer you if I'm not sure to which part of this you are referring to."

"Are you giving up then?" Ryoma practically growled as he visibly struggled to restrain himself.

"For Kirumi's murder most certainly! But if you think now is a good time for us to vote you'd be most sorely mistaken. Not unless your death wish has changed to wanting to have us all die alongside you. Because for the terms of this trial, as bloody as I may be, I'm still as 'spotless' as everyone else. However, I am grateful you all have allowed me to experience something so close to what our true blackened must have all felt before their ends. It's a most enlightening and intriguing sensation."

"What are you talking about?! You killed Kirumi you bastard-" Tenko shouted at him, as if hoping if she got angry enough his confidence would crumble and see he was doomed. But he just wouldn't stop.

"Indeed I did! **But **_**only**_** Kirumi**. Just ask Gonta or Ryoma, I was with them when Maki died. Unless you'd prefer I simply tell you all who our real blackened is, the one you all should have been seeking? Now I do understand if you don't wish to believe me, but it won't make my words any less the truth. I'm offering to reward you all for your fine work in order to keep the trial up to this point from being a wasted effort."

_What? So he just killed her because __**he knew he'd get away with it**__?! __**I remember exactly who he is now!**_ I thought.

"Why did you even go so far then?! The posing, the decapitation, all of it! Why kill someone at all if you know you aren't going to graduate from it?" Kaito snapped.

"Must you be so hung up on that? Her death has never mattered in this case. But fine. I only meant to cut into her neck enough to be fatal, to assure her a quick death, but I misjudged the sharpness of the blade. I hadn't tested it enough so I didn't notice the rust wasn't an indicator of it being dull, so I put much more force into the swing than I should have. The posing was an attempt to give her some dignity after my mistake. I also thought it may suit an 'artist's' sensibilities, to buy me more time to prove I was not guilty of killing Maki should I have needed it. I do apologize for framing you Angie, I have no excuse."

Angie and Miyuji's smiles were completely gone as they blankly stared at the monster standing beside them. The hate in their eyes were unmistakable. Had they been someone else they might've even tried to attack him, for the way his apologies as he faced them felt like a mockery. But their resolve was stronger than that so she just watched him in silence, refusing to dignify any of this with a response, until Kaito began shouting at him again.

"How can you say a person's death didn't matter?! Like hell we'd ever just let that be swept under the rug. We can't just ignore what happened to them in order to protect ourselves. She was our friend! Besides, Maki Roll told me she was going to talk to you last night so you still could have done this."

"And that is true, but she left my lab before I did and I still have my alibi. Gonta was even as gracious as to escort me back to my dorm, in accordance to the student council's curfew Maki and I both broke. But given what happened I suspect she never actually left the fourth floor." Kiyo claimed.

"So what, you're trying to pin your crimes on Keebo or Angie again?! We don't need to waste any more time on your lies, I'm ready to vote!" Tenko yelled.

"And it'd be suicide Tenko, we still have a ways to go to prove anything. I saw both of them that night and if the Monokuma-" Ryoma began to argue before the Monokubs interfered.

"It's a Monokubs file you bastard!" Monosuke shouted.

"Zip it Monosuke, let them work or I'll gag you with my scarf!" Monotaro threatened.

"Oh my..." Monophanie groaned.

"HE-SAID-BE-QUIET!" Monodam yelled.

"...Fine. If the _Monokubs_ File is to be believed I saw Kiyo at the time it said Maki died. I don't see this being some sort of trick he pulled either, she's too quick to lose to someone like him in a fight."

_How did Ryoma forget that's what the murder files are called now?_ I off-handily thought.

"Yeah. Gonta… not really understanding why he do this but Kiyo not lying about Gonta escorting him. But… that means student council kill Maki? Why?! We… We protect all students. No exceptions!" Gonta said best he could through his confusion, sweat, and tears.

"Exactly! And Angie definitely didn't see Maki that night. I was working in my lab, no visitors either." Angie quickly claimed, which got a nod from Tenko to offer some support for it.

Not to be outdone Keebo also rushed to his own defense. "I didn't see anyone, I was working in the computer lab the entire time! You can even check the log for the program I've been fixing, everything is time stamped so I have a solid alibi!"

Kiyo almost looked _bored_ as he shook his head at both of their panicked responses. "You all seem to be forgetting there was one other person on the fourth floor that night. Kirumi was the one patrolling the halls so Keebo had his time to work and help weed out any of Angie's unwanted guests."

"I'm not the culprit!" The robot shouted over him.

"Angie's not the culprit!" Angie said at almost the same time and volume.

"You're both _idiots_ is what you are." The anthropologist bitterly countered them almost just as quickly.

It was hard to get a word in edgewise as the three kept talking over each other in their efforts to prove they weren't the culprits. Well, the two were, as Kiyo simply kept being drowned out as he tried to prove they were panicking over nothing. His argument seemed sound enough though, despite my wariness.

_Framing Angie for Kirumi's death in order to make her a suspect for Maki's would have only worked if he always planned on making her the person he planned to frame, which doesn't seem like the case._ I thought to myself.

_Keebo's been completely unrelated to the case so far and has no motive to go to Kiyo's lab to kill Maki. _

_But Kirumi's a different story. She had been so ready to kill after her video she lashed out in front of everyone. Maybe Maki was able to pick up on that and confronted her about and something… snapped._

"So Kiyo, what did you mean to tell us the reason **you killed Kirumi because you knew she was guilty of killing Maki**?" I asked.

"_Precisely_. That is why she put herself in charge of examining Maki's body, much like how I examined my own victim in kind. **Kirumi planted those ashes**, not discovered them. I saw her do it since I knew to keep an eye on her already." The anthropologist explained. "It's also when she took the knife Maki had when she fell, hidden under the pieces of the broken banister. I suspect Maki used it in self-defense, rather than the blood being Maki's, given how it's style indicates it came from Maki's lab, when Kirumi would have likely preferred the equally easy to obtain kitchen knives as she had more experience with them."

"So what? You're saying you killed Kirumi to avenge Maki since you knew they fought for a reason you're not telling us? I'm not bloody buying it one bit." Tokuko said.

"Oh goodness no, if that was my motivation I wouldn't have needed to do anything. Can you imagine the execution Monokuma would have had in store for her?" The long-haired boy muttered. "Kirumi wasn't the sort of woman who'd be content to go quietly into the night either, so her own futile efforts to elude her grisly fate would have only prolonged things even more. She'd never allow herself to die with dignity if she could help it. Survival was far too important for her. So I spared her that suffering, as beautiful as it may have been."

"So… Kiyo kill Kirumi to… protect Kirumi? Like killing wounded animal that can't get better?" Gonta asked.

"Very good Gonta! And not just her either. So far I've been the only one of us who hasn't played a part in sending our friends to their graves, with voting to have them executed. Now I'm the only one with her blood on my hands, rather than having it divided amongst us all. I didn't think anyone would mind that."

"Why you... you..." I muttered before shouting **"You bloodbending traitor!"**

The courtroom seemed to burst with anger, confusion, horror, and various other emotions I couldn't describe. The fact that Kiyo, one of the most calm students in this killing game was Kirumi's killer _and_ one of the remaining traitors was too much for the others to put into words.

_I hope I'm doing the right thing by revealing Kiyo as a traitor to everyone. __**How much does the new mastermind want us to suffer?**_ I thought to myself.

**...**

**Class Trial - INTERMISSION**


	27. Chapter 3: Beware the MPT - Part 8

**Class Trial - RESUME**

**...**

Kokichi turned to face the masked monster. "Ooooh, I see. NOW when it's convenient you _did_ 'choose' Kirumi as your victim, is that it? Too bad we already proved that was BS Kiyo. **It's not like the first girl you agreed to act as you medium was **_**Miyuji**_** or anything**, riiiight?"

The room felt colder and by the look on Miyuji's face, she looked nearly betrayed. Or like the supreme leader was some horrifying inverted figure for revealing the attack she could have been a part of.

"Whatever are you talking about?" Kiyo scoffed, making no attempt to hide his annoyance anymore.

"Y-Yeah. Gonta remember that too." Gonta admitted. "Tokuko ask, Kiyo explain stuff, then Tokuko un-ask. Miyuji ask, Kiyo say yes, then Kirumi say she do it. Made Kiyo less happy than when Miyuji want to help."

"Wait, what? But Miyuji was completely innocent! If the person who died was going to be the medium why get her involved at all?!" Tenko asked, incensed by the idea an innocent girl's kind gesture could have been so easily proven to have been a fatal mistake.

_Maybe it's because she knows how music plays a major role in rituals?_ I thought.

"...So everything you said to defend killing Kirumi was a lie, is that it?" Ryoma's voice was as cold as ice as those empty eyes glared at Kiyo. Again the feeling of betrayal was obvious, but some guilt was there too.

Then I heard Shuichi say the contradiction I knew was coming.

"Does this mean **Kiyo could be lying about Kirumi being Maki's killer then**, and he's only accusing her because she was his victim?"

**"No, that's wrong!"** I shouted as I pointed a finger at him.

"Huh? Whose side are you on, Sharla?" The detective asked, shocked that I refuted him.

"We don't even know if Kiyo's lying or not. So we should focus on **whether or not Kirumi killed Maki** for now." I responded.

"I can agree with that. Even if Kiyo's previously stated motivation was a lie this still appears to be a more than plausible theory." Keebo tried agreeing with me to move things along, before Tenko interrupted him.

"What the hell, you can't just move on like that! This is serious you soulless machine-"

"So is keeping everyone alive!" The robot challenged back. "We know Kiyo killed Kirumi, but **we need to know beyond any reasonable doubt who killed Maki if we want to make sure we get the right culprit**. Motives and addressing your robophobia can come later, because if we do it any other way there might not be a later at all."

"Me, Maki Roll, Shuichi, and Ryoma have been trying to help keep tensions down over some fighting we saw happen between Kirumi, Angie, and Tenko over the whole… zombie motive thing. Kirumi wasn't happy how Angie completely dismissed Tsumugi and Miu as candidates since even if they were murderers they were still our friends and it's not like they were bad people." Kaito gave Angie a sad look as he said that, as if he pitied how close minded she was being rather than angry, as he continued despite the subject matter. "Some of us would have been really happy to have them back too, even if the scenario's sketchy as hell. So Ryoma kept an eye on Tenko when he could while Maki'd shadow Kirumi from time to time. **Kirumi could have confronted her about that maybe?**"

"Yeah, I noticed that too. But did you really do anything Kaito? I remember seeing the other two plain as day, but Angie didn't really need to be watched as much and you definitely weren't around." Tokuko said.

"Of course I helped, I set up the scheduling and kept tabs on Angie through the tracker thingies." The astronaut argued.

"So you just stayed in your room mostly?" The actress asked teasingly.

"I did not! **It's not like I was sick or scared or anything-**"

"Did too!" Kokichi shouted.

"Did not!" Kaito predictably shouted back, providing the perfect set up to continue.

"You toooootally did. Good thing in space no one could hear you scream like a baby riiiight?" The supreme leader mocked.

"Knock it off you two, or do you want to die?" Ryoma scolded as he gave both of them a glare.

"Aww, what's the matter Ryoma, having one catchphrase wasn't enough for you anymore?" The purple-haired boy asked.

That certainly got the tennis pro silent. Miyuji visibly held back her laughter and Tokuko had a smirk on her face.

_Then again, __**Kaito did have blood spilling out of his mouth when me, Kaede, and Miyuji found him, Shuichi, and Ryoma during the investigation**__._ I thought to myself.

"Maki smart so she may have kept extra close eyes on Kirumi. Since Kirumi got scary before." Gonta said.

"Angie wouldn't count as one of her 'citizens' either which could have made her a target like me too." Ryoma went on, before Angie took a go at it.

"Kirumi's also one of the few who had access to the Necronomicon. Only Kaede and I had really read it thoroughly though, so the ashes Kirumi planted may have been a genuine attempt to revive her. Even if she got to the part about the effigies you need she probably missed the rest of the steps so it failed." The artist explained.

"Or to take away our chance bring back Himiko and claim she thought bringing Maki back would either replace the séance or stop the need for a trial at all. But did the process really fail Monotaro?" Tenko asked, turning to face the four bears.

"Oh, you're asking us now? Well, I wouldn't say it failed so much as it wasn't really done in the first place. **But Maki wasn't one of the four we said you could bring back either**, not that it matters now." Monotaro explained.

"...So it really was limited to just them?" Kaito looked torn, as if he was hoping she could come back despite everything.

"WELL-IT'S-NOT-LIKE-**THEY-DON'T-STILL-HAVE-A-SORT-OF-TRANSFER-STUDENT-ALREADY**. SO-THIS-IS-FINE-I-THINK." Monodam muttered.

"Whatchoo talkin' bout grill-face?" Monosuke asked, giving his robotic brother an odd look.

"THERE'S-STILL-14-STUDENTS-HERE. I-MEAN-SHOULDN'T-SHE-COUNT? SHE'S-BEEN-HERE-SINCE-THE-BEGINNING-AND-NO-ONE-SEEMED-TO-MIND-HER-BEFORE. BUT-THIS-MOTIVE-NOT-BEING-USED-MEANS-WE-CAN-INCLUDE-HER-WITH-THE-OTHERS-NOW!"

"WHAT THE FUCK MONODAM?! That thing ain't a person in the first fuckin' place!"

"Are you sure? She's a lot less spooky to me than fake ghosts are, and the transfer student might not have been made a 'person' either." Monophanie admitted.

"...What on earth?" Kiyo mumbled under his breath, eyes widening. His zipper was flicking about like he was taking short shallow breaths or like he did when he lied, but this was different. He was scared.

_**Is Monodam talking about the new mastermind?**_ I thought.

Kokichi decided to get the discussion back on track. "Soooo we're thinkin' Maki went after Kirumi since she'd know a killer when she sees one? Wouldn't that still leave Kiyo as a suspect too? For someone as 'innocent' as the rest of us, you sure don't seem queasy about messing around with fresh bodies. It's _almost_ like you're used to this sorta thing."

"And what perchance are you exactly accusing me of Kokichi?" Kiyo asked.

"I think you know what I'm talking about there, Mister 'Seeing everyone suffer gets me off'. Someone's watching us play this game and for being a participant you've been enjoying yourself waaay too much." The supreme leader argued.

"So what if I'm a sadist? That's hardly a surprise to anyone I'm sure, and it's not like you aren't one too." The anthropologist taunted. "And I've hardly had as much of a reason to be as fearful as the rest of you in the first place. You're right in claiming I have more experience with murder than I previously made clear, I'll grant you that much. I may even have as much experience with it as Ryoma has had by this point. **But if you're trying to paint me as the mastermind of this game Tsumugi had been supposedly been, you couldn't be more wrong.**"

I glanced at Kaede to see that she wasn't taking this in well. She barely made a peep since Kokichi took control of things and not only was she still shell-shocked she was crying. It's no wonder why Gonta was trying so hard to take advantage of his podium spot's to reach out and comfort her.

_Gonta could also probably be ruled out as a suspect, he's too childlike for this to all be an act. He could prove useful too, between his low self-esteem making him think he's stupid and excellent physical skills. Either in building him up to someone stronger than he is now or by keeping him as a malleable puppet._ I thought to myself.

"Seriously, this 'mastermind' talk again?" Monotaro asked.

"...But Monotaro we shouldn't be bringing this up too often." Monophanie pointed out.

"Yeah, you really shouldn't try to shortchange them out of their hard work ya'know-" Monosuke said.

_Them? As in the gender-neutral singular form or as a plural? Gotta keep that in mind for later._ I thought.

"I know, let's just see where their wild goose chase goes."

The cubs did just that so we returned our focus on the traitor among our midst.

"So, that's what's been off about you. **You killed before this game even started.** And lot at that." Shuichi muttered, resignation and rage written all over his face.

But if seeing the last bit of faith his old 'friend' had in him fizzle out bothered him Kiyo sure didn't show it. "Yes, but that hardly matters now does it? **I'm still not the blackened here, just like you aren't.** And I couldn't exactly be open about this sort of thing, with the stigmas I've seen held against you and Maki."

The detective was visibly holding himself back, before he took a deep breath and addressed the bastard again. "...Fine. Then there's one last thing to check. **There's no way Maki went down without a fight, so let's make sure all of that blood on you is Kirumi's. She couldn't have fought back, so you shouldn't be hurt.**"

"Woah-woah-woah, are you asking him to take his shirt off? In public?! Innocent eyes Shuichi, and no one wants to see that!" Tenko screeched, as appalled as Zanza when he was defeated.

_...I don't know Tenko, never underestimate the power of morbid curiosity._ I thought.

"Y-Yeah, it ungentlemanly to expose skin like that around others!" Gonta agreed, red as a fire Ether crystal.

"Well when I cosplay I've seen guys and girls go around nearly nude or looking like it a lot so I don't mind, as long as it will really help prove Kirumi killed Maki. Will we need to check her bloody body too then?" Tokuko asked and begged too many questions I wasn't sure I wanted the answers to.

"Ugh, are you talking about the headless one? Do I really have to see that again?" Monophanie complained, which gave her brattiest brother a nasty thought.

"...Well, we do gotta keep this a fair trial right? And it's not like that broad would mind anymore. What sort of maid would turn down some good ol' fanservice, even if she had a good head on her shoulders?"

"...THAT-WAS-A-REALLY-MEAN-JOKE-MONOSUKE. BUT-FOR-FAIRNESS-I-WILL-GO-AND-BRING-HER-BACH-HERE!"

Kiyo looked on nonplussed as he watched the bear-bot scamper off.

"...Very well then, I suppose it can't be helped. If you truly distrust my alibi that much. I do believe the torso is all that is needed for this, yes?" He said with a resigned sigh as he unbuttoned his shirt, much like he did with his coat before.

It sounded like nearly anyone took a breath at what they saw though. Little blood seeped through onto his skin, but it was hard to say Kiyo was really uninjured. It's just that nothing on him was _recent_.

Scar after scar, of varying types and ages, covered nearly everything. He didn't touch his mask or bandages but they had already seen that those areas were mostly normal compared to the rest of him.

It's not all stuff that could be self-inflicted or purely exotic from his 'field work' either. I know cigarette burns and the telltale indents of belt buckles when I see them. But even if Kiyo wasn't involved with the traitors that'd never excuse what he allowed himself to become.

But I knew deep down that was far from the truth I know.

"Are you all quite satisfied with my involvement now? It is rather cold in here if you don't mind." The anthropologist asked.

After getting enough shocked nods to his implicit request he started putting both of his layers back on, hiding the gore under his uniform's coat once again, barely reacting to the wet blood on his skin.

"What the hell happened to you man?" Kaito asked.

"Life did. Humanity's cruelties are no stranger to me, which is why I maintain they too can be beautiful." Kiyo shrugged in reply, as if this was no big deal. Like all of this was something normal even for me.

Right on time, Monodam came back in the green Exisal with Kirumi's body mostly in one piece. He clearly made the effort to lay her as if her head was still attached, despite it being easier to carry them if they were separated. A low podium was made in the middle of the room to rest her on for everyone to see.

Monophanie's gag reflexes could be heard acting up again before she inevitably muttered. "So gory…"

"If you're so bothered by it why not lend her Monotaro's scarf? It's more than sufficient to act as her 'velvet ribbon' so to speak, as some versions of the tale make it just that." The anthropologist suggested.

"Do we really have to… undress her too?" Ryoma asked, and was pretty uncomfortable at the idea.

"NO! Er… Gonta means... forearms should be all we need to see. So **rolling back sleeves and taking off gloves should be enough! Few other places defensive wounds could be, arms are used to block self**." Gonta objected, and got a raised eyebrow and what was probably a scowl from sir 'so why the fuck did you just make _me_ undress' himself.

Monodam nodded and began to try doing just that, but his paws made the gloves a bit harder to do. When he was done there was no denying the fresh and bloodied bandages that were found there. And unlike Kiyo's questionable fashion decisions she has no excuses for that.

"Take off the bandages too, please! Atua thinks **Maki may have left us another clue here if she could, so put the arms as if Kirumi was protecting her face**." Angie exclaimed.

With a bit more difficulty Monodam eventually managed it. I leaned over my podium for a closer look of Kirumi's arms.

And there it was. While the arms in general looked like a mess with the arms held up there was a message Kirumi probably wasn't able to notice. Either she was too preoccupied with tending to the wounds or she never bothered to check. If she did she'd probably have cut herself more to cover this up.

There was no mistaking those marks. Just six little lines, three to make one damning symbol per arm.

マキ

Ma-Ki

_So, in the end, the faux child caregiver left her dying message in katakana that even a child could read._ I thought to myself.

"Leave it to Maki Roll to make sure no matter who won that fight we'd know who did this..." Kaito mournfully said with a rueful grin before slaming his hands on the railing with a curse that made many of my friends flinch.

"Well, there we have it. **Kirumi is the blackened without any room for doubt.** Shall we begin voting time?" Keebo said, still clearly bothered by Kiyo's role in all this.

Catching his worry Angie saw her chance and took it. "Angie would rather not if we can wait, to discuss Kokichi's mastermind theory or Kiyo's motive."

"Yeah! Just because the absolute menace says he's just a crazy killer doesn't mean Kokichi was wrong." Tenko agreed.

"Aww, you really DO listen to me now! I'm so touched." Kokichi exclaimed.

"That touch will be Tenko flipping you if you don't watch it." Miyuji challenged.

"Oh don't worry, I'm watching! Allllways watching." The supreme leader said with a smirk and a finger to his mouth as he watched Tenko begin to boil.

"Not. Helping." The vocalist muttered.

"Nope, I do that too! Let's face it, even when I'm messing around I'm waaay more help than you are." He teased again, and nearly got her to burst before Kaito intervened.

"Quit it! Can we disprove Kiyo is the mastermind or not?"

"Hey we didn't say we'd let you do this! I mean it's not like letting him talk would be able to get enough of youse to vote wrong just to fuck him over right? So we can just vote now!" Monosuke said

"WE-CAN-STILL-LET-HIM-EXPLAIN-HIMSELF-SO-THEY-CAN-UNDERSTAND-HIM-BETTER-AFTER-THEY-VOTE, AS-THIS-IS-A-SETTING-WHERE-THEY-WON'T-BE-ABLE-TO-PUNISH-HIM-THEMSELVES-YET. HIS-REASONS-MAY-NOT-BE-AS- SCARY-AS-IT-LOOKS, LIKE-THE-ONES-HE-GAVE-BEFORE!" Monodam exclaimed.

"I just like being in the trial room, and there's no timer on the post voting period so that's fine with me~" Monophanie agreed with the robotic bear, causing the tiger to roar his disapproval.

But at least there was no doubts who all of us needed to vote for, or any reasons to try and get it wrong on purpose. Needless to say, all votes were shown to be for the absent Kirumi, and it was no surprise when the machine confirmed her as the culprit behind Maki's death. The real surprise would come later.

For now, none of us tried to leave but at least we could walk around with our podiums unlocked.

**...**

**Class Trial - ALL RISE**

**...**

Gonta naturally beelined to bear hug Kaede, who seemed to appreciate it as well as she could right now. Tenko looked tempted to do the same, but chose to stay put so Angie and Tokuko felt safe to go over to her in their efforts to get as far from Kiyo as possible. Keebo encouraged Gonta, Miyuji, and Kaede to join the girls, while he, Kokichi, Kaito, Shuichi, and me remained more on our own, placing themselves between them and Kiyo.

During this time Kiyo confirmed that he isn't the new mastermind we're looking for and explained how his original plan was supposed to work. But throughout all of this, I noticed that Shuichi was shaking with rage and clenching his fists.

"Can we just get to the punishment..?" He asked.

"No, we can't! The blackened's dead, so the gory part can't be done." Monophanie shot back.

The detective growled in anger as he turned to approach me. I stepped backwards in worry.

"S-Shuichi?!" I called out his name in fear for what's about to happen.

"This is... your fault." The hatless boy muttered.

"What? How is this _my_ fault?!" I asked in confusion.

"If you weren't hunting down the traitors, none of this would've happened!"

With that yell he charged at me as the others looked on in shock as the detective prepared to punch me. I braced for impact and then...

_**BAM!**_

I opened my eyes to see Shuichi's fist hitting Monophanie as she leapt off her throne. I could hear Kaede and a few others gasp in horror in realization.

"Shuichi... you..." I started. **"You broke the rules!"**

"What..?" The detective muttered as his eyes widened. "No... Sharla... I-I didn't mean to-"

"I've believed in you." I continued with tears in my eyes. "Ever since the first trial you were the shining hope in this game's despair. But now, **you might not be a traitor but you still betrayed us**!"

"Shuichi..." Kaede whimpered with tears in her eyes too. "How could you... do this to us?"

"W-Wait! Sharla... Kaede... I can explain-" Shuichi argued before Monophanie interrupted.

"N-No need to. **There's going to be an e-execution after all.**" She said in pain as her brothers tried to help her.

"What?! Hey, I'm sorry-" The detective sputtered, trying to get the Monokubs away from the execution button to no avail.

There was still an execution for this after all. It just couldn't be for who it should have been.

* * *

_**GAME OVER**_

_**Shuichi has been found guilty.**_

_**Time for the punishment!**_

* * *

Shuichi found himself inside some sort of ballroom with see-through walls and stone statues of the Monokubs above him. He sees the surviving students on the other side of one of the walls and tries to reach out to Kaede.

But before he could two large clasps on tight chains wrapped themselves around his arms, restraining him from moving towards the others. He looks around and becomes confused upon seeing himself surrounded by life-sized wooden dolls, each resembling the twelve surviving students.

* * *

_**Burning Ballroom Massacre**_

_**Ultimate Detective Shuichi Saihara's Execution: Executed**_

* * *

The blue-haired boy gazed in horror as a grinning Angie appeared before him. Unable to move, he screamed as she plunged a dagger right into his chest. Then, Angie disappeared, only to be replaced by Tokuko. Again, she stabbed the detective in the chest, and vanished. One by one, each member of the group took their turn to leave their mark upon Shuichi's chest. Each wound was more painful than the last, but not damaging enough to outright kill him.

With each knife planting itself into Shuichi's body, the Monokubs threw lit candles into the room along with Monodam pushing Monotaro into the fires that ensued. This made the ballroom grow unbearably hot. The mixture of intense pain and the unbearable heat made each wooden doll look even more horrific and nightmarish than the last in Shuichi's eyes. The agony went on and on until finally, it was Kaede and Sharla's turn. Their dolls were ablaze from the fires of the candles. They both wore extra wide grins, making sure Shuichi got a good look at them before landing the final daggers right through his heart as the real pianist and sniper screamed in horror.

Shuichi's corpse wore a twisted, scared, mind-rending expression. The wooden dolls, now all burning and falling apart, congregated around his body. Finally, they fell inwards on top of him, creating a makeshift bonfire that burned the entire room to the ground.

* * *

As we left the trial room, Kaede and Miyuji asked me to meet up in the pianist's research lab. When I got there, Miyuji explained that Kaede started playing 'Clair de Lune' in honor of Shuichi's memory.

"It must be painful for her to lose her boyfriend like this." The vocalist muttered as the pianist played.

_What did we do to deserve this? I'm no stranger to losing those who are close to me but still._ I thought to myself.

* * *

Meanwhile in Maki's research lab, Gonta stood there alone in fear. Someone who claimed to have known him before the game had asked to meet him here and he had no other choice.

"U-Um... are you there..?" He called out.

"Over here." A raspy voice responded.

The entomologist yelped in surprise as Kiyo seemed to pop out of nowhere from the various weaponry in the deceased assassin's lab.

"Are you scared?" Kiyo asked.

"K-Kiyo..." Gonta muttered, breathing hard. "What wrong? Calling Gonta out on night Maki, Kirumi, and Shuichi die..."

"Kehehe... 'What's wrong'? Are you sure about that? Because you should remember the answer very well. Is that right... **Gonta Gokuhara, the Ultimate Disciple?**" The anthropologist continued.

The faux entomologist screamed in in realization as painful memories came back to him.

"You know that **I'm really the Ultimate Calligrapher and the Disciple of Blood, yes? Sharla now knows that too**." Kiyo said.

"Gonta remember now... but not fully yet. **Does Kiyo want Gonta to kill Sharla?**" Gonta asked.

In response, Kiyo grabbed the muscular boy by his dress shirt and pulled him to his eye level as he spoke. "Correct, **I'm going to try to do the same. If my attempts don't work you better not let me down.**"

"Gonta... understand..." The most powerful of Zanza's disciples obliged.

The faux anthropologist left soon afterwards. Gonta looked down at his dark orange Battle Gem in his hand as tears ran down his cheeks and hit the wings on his gem.

"S-Sharla... Gonta sorry... but Gonta have to kill you." He muttered. **"Gonta have score to settle with Sharla."**

**...**

**End of Chapter 3: Beware the Most Powerful Traitor**

**Surviving Members: 12**

**Present Obtained: Three-Star Cap - Proof that you cleared Chapter 3. A memento of Shuichi. It used to be something he hid behind and it's now a sign of his resolve to find the truth.**


	28. Chapter 4: T of D, T of L - Part 1

A Cinderace and a Hatterene run across a hidden part in the academy in search of something or rather _someone_.

"Hurry up **Saeyimur**! We've almost found him!" The Cinderace called out.

"Are you sure the mastermind who's behind this took Shulk here, **Zellium**?" The Hatterene, Saeyimur asked as she caught up to her ally.

"Come on Sae! I can see him from here and he's not looking too great." The Cinderace, Zellium said as he pointed at Shulk.

The blonde-haired boy was breathing hard. The mastermind had just taken most of his ability to fight and he knows it. He could still fight back but only weaker than before the final fight with Zanza, he was out of options at this point.

Or that was what he thought until he heard two recognizable voices from the area beside him.

"DARKEST LARIAT!"

"PSYCHO CUT!"

_**BANG!**_

The whole room was filled with smoke and only the silhouetted bodies of Shulk, Zellium, and Saeyimur could be seen as the blonde-haired boy's chains were destroyed, brought back onto his feet and the three of them ran off.

**...**

**Begin Chapter 4: Tears of Despair, Tears of Love**

The dark mood of last night still lingered the next day in the dining hall. I was busy in the kitchen making food for all of us. With Kirumi gone I had to get everyone's preferences in order to use anything I could find to make something each of them can enjoy. I've already poured tea into cups and set them on the table. But the despair-inducing mood still remained.

Kiyo's early presence hardly seemed to have helped in this regard, though it would be easy to miss with how Angie still went out of her way to speak with him. I only needed to look at Kaede, Miyuji, and Kaito to see the lingering damage however, a hard blow to those so quick to help comfort those in need.

Gonta and Tokuko went to join the trio after I gave them their breakfast. They knew I didn't have to do it myself before, when Kirumi was here. The kitchen felt so much emptier and colder with her gone. Worse still by the fact her killer and one of the traitors was still there.

The entomologist and the actress placed themselves beside Kaede in hopes that would help block out Angie and Kiyo for her. She was looking better than yesterday at least, but that's hardly saying much considering that she was wearing Shuichi's hat on her head. But the grateful smile she gave him was still genuine so that made him feel a bit better than last night. Kaito's warm welcome was also appreciated.

_Kaito's warmth is being forced though, it's obvious from his body language._ I thought to myself.

When the four ate enough they began discussing what they thought may work to help address any concerns any of us would have with Kiyo, due to the revelations of the last trial, as Gonta listened.

Kaito's taking most of the lead, even with him as out of sorts as he was. It does make sense that Kaede would be taking the latest reveal harder. The type of betrayal she faced this time was far too personal.

"Hey Gonta, come a bit closer okay? Need your thoughts here big guy." Kaito whispered best he could, as if that would keep Kiyo or Angie from noticing what they were talking about. A quick glance at the odd pair showed such an attempt was fruitless, but Gonta complied best he could anyway.

Though the way Angie reached for the faux anthropologist's teacup instead of her own while the traitor was distracted was odd. It was too out of the way to be a mistake for her and one of her fists was clenched.

_Then again Kiyo is the __**Ultimate Calligraper and the Disciple of Blood**__. But __**it's strange another disciple would try to kill him**__._ I thought to myself.

I wasn't sure when everyone arrived and when they finished eating their breakfast but when everyone arrived at the dining hall while on the topic of non-lethal alternatives, Keebo got to the point needed.

"So everyone else is present? Good. So speaking of non-lethal alternatives what shall we do with Kiyo?" He asked.

"Why settle for not killing him? I have no problems with taking him out if that's okay with everyone else." Ryoma said, not breaking eye contact with his fellow murderer as if to emphasize how serious he's being.

Kiyo barely batted an eye at the threat before replying. "Are you sure you want to go so far? There's hardly a need to cause more bloodshed so soon after the last trial is there?"

"Hell no, we'd ever be OK with that! What the bloody hell are you thinking Prison Boy?! You can't throw away your life over this. **It's not like it'd be too hard to just lock him up somewhere or keep an eye on him.**" Tokuko argued.

"If I may suggest for people to not 'keep watch' or be in charge of bringing me any meals Angie has proven to be less that trustworthy in this regard already." The calligrapher advised. "But I'm more than open to any ideas that don't involve my own death. In general male wardens would likely be the option you'd all be safer with too. Not that I doubt Tenko's physical capabilities, but if left alone things would quickly escalate I imagine."

"Huh?~ What is Kiyo talking about? Angie has done nothing wrong. Atua even said He doesn't think Kiyo's as bad as he said he is anymore!" Angie complained as she started squishing her face again.

"So I suppose **you just tried drugging my tea as a source of entertainment**? Or perhaps poison is the more accurate term, considering just how limited our resources are." Kiyo leveled her a look, but he's coming across as more inquisitive and teasing than actually upset despite what he was saying.

Her own expression furrowed and puffed as she took note of the colorful flowery mug he lifted to his mask as if to taunt her to show him he's wrong. Leaving her with only his original dragonfly patterned teacup if she wanted to prove her innocence by drinking from it herself. But she couldn't, so she went to pour it out in the garbage before going off to sulk back in the seat Tenko wanted her to take before.

**_At least his comically serious personality was one thing the Flashback Lights preserved._** I thought as I smirked.

"It wasn't anything THAT serious. Just enough to get you an itttsy bit sick, since you keep acting so smug. It wouldn't kill you to at least pretend to have some remorse for what you did to Kirumi you know." Angie explained.

"Were you really willing to stake your life on that guess Angie? Or everyone else's?! Be more careful please! Your 'Atua' has already proven too faulty to trust in life and death situations like this." Keebo warned.

"Gonta agree with Keebo. Gonta can keep close eye on Kiyo, so Kiyo no hurt anyone okay? And no one else hurt Kiyo either. Gonta promise to keep everyone safe, so no trials happen." Gonta said.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea for now. Locking him up could put him in danger and lead to another trial, so a buddy system should work as a compromise for now. Is that okay with everyone else?" Kaede asked, looking around the room for approval. With little better solutions available all of us soon agreed.

Not that this meant everyone was happy about this solution. Kokichi, in particular, looked pretty upset. I would like to think this was more out of worry than anger, but it was hard for me to know for sure especially with how he's familiar to me.

Keebo also looked more distant than usual. Until his pink eyes lit up, nearly literally, as if something just occurred to him. But whatever the thought that brought a smile to his face was, he kept it to himself.

I couldn't ask him when the three remaining Monokubs appeared and Monosuke had us hand in 999 Monocoins for the keys to the new areas to prepare the next motive. Monodam said that we'll have the day to ourselves without any motives.

* * *

Later on, I agreed with Kaede and Gonta to watch over Kiyo in my room after exploring all of the new labs and the fifth floor.

"Thank you for complying with my plan Kiyo. It feels a lot safer for the others knowing that the surviving killer of the previous trial is in good hands." I said.

"I don't mind at all." Kiyo replied. "I have no interest in what the new floor has to offer anyway."

I decided to show him a few things from the Bionis and the Mechonis to see if he has interest in any of those or if he remembers seeing them during the time he was a disciple.

But then I paused for a moment, something wasn't right. It felt like someone was behind me. Realizing who the only person with me was, I turned around and grabbed Kiyo by his wrists and got into a struggle to get the sickle in his hands away from me.

**"Are you trying to kill me?!"** I asked in anger. "That's why you obliged for me to guard you, isn't it?!"

"So you figured it out, right?" The faux anthropologist responded, now speaking the way he did in the Killing Titan War and giving me the indication that the Flashback Lights' effects had worn off. **"I've planned to kill you ever since the previous trial ended."**

"Are any of the other traitors planning to do the same?"

"Well, since my plan have backfired **when the next motive is presented the Ultimate Disciple will finish what Lord Zanza started!**"

I turned away for a bit before turning back as I spoke. **"What would Ajia, Gita, and Miyadera think about this?"**

Kiyo's eyes widened in shock as he dropped the sickle and clutched his head as if he just remembered who those three were during the Killing Titan War. **"I... I need time to think about that."**

After that he left as nighttime struck, I went to sleep thinking about what was going on with him.

_**Does Ajia know where her boyfriend even is?**_ I thought to myself as I went to sleep.


	29. Chapter 4: T of D, T of L - Part 2

I will admit, I felt a lot better the next day that I didn't realize how fast time can fly. It seems like the Monokubs are letting us have today to ourselves too. Regardless, Keebo wanted all of us to meet in the computer lab on the fourth floor.

_**At least I set the truth about Kiyo free to them.**_ I thought as I went up to the computer lab.

When I arrived with Kaede, Kaito, Kokichi, Ryoma and Tokuko following behind me, both Gonta and Kiyo were there. But neither of them looked particularly comfortable around the machines; Kiyo in particular kept trying not to look at me as if I was solely responsible for his discomfort and to hide the fact that his mask and the lipstick from before were gone and that he had cut his formerly long hair to about chin length. Kinda like how Kaito kept giving the hallways outside panicked looks.

_And not for Kaede for a change._ I thought to myself.

Keebo was too busy to notice; he was fiddling with some of the wires hanging off the machine instead of telling us what this was supposed to do. If I had to guess, he was probably trying to buy time for Miyuji, Angie, and Tenko so he wouldn't need to explain the same things over and over.

"Do we really have to get involved in this showing? Even if this is about technology that seems more advanced than what the High Entia have, this also applies to this... 'Xbox' of yours, Keebo. This is barely a time for games you know?" Kiyo asked.

"...Dude, you can't be serious." Kaito said, looking completely dumbfounded.

"It's a large cubical computer with an 'X' on it and headsets attached to it, what else would I think it is?" The faux anthropologist replied, tilting his head a bit as if he was confused about why the astronaut now had his face in his hands.

"It's obviously not that! How could a bloody game console ever be that big _and_ mass produced? Even I know this is normally impossible." Tokuko snarked.

"W-While you are right in that it is something of a game system, it's more complicated than that! And while our situation is obviously serious **isn't escapism good to help humans in stressful situations**?" Keebo said from his position.

"Escape-ism? Keebo found way out in that kon-poo-ter box?" Gonta asked.

"In a way yes! But please, let us wait for the others before we get to into it." The robot answered.

The robotic student was obviously nervous about what we would think about his work and went back to making sure everything was still as it needed to be for this demonstration. Me and the others didn't need to wait too long at least, as an out of breath Miyuji fell through the door a moment later.

It looked like she had tried leaning on the door before it opened by itself, so Tenko needed to catch her before she landed on the floor as Angie giggled. It looked like the vocalist had run all the way outside to get those two, but the run back hadn't affected either of her more hyperactive companions at all.

As Keebo double-checked that all of us were here and that there would be enough visors and chairs for everyone and he started to explain.

"I realize this may seem suspicious to some of you, seeing how this technology was granted to us by the Monokubs, and one of them, Monosuke, helped show me how this program was meant to work. But I assure you, I took every step I could to ensure that the other world this opens up to us will be completely safe! **What began it's existence as a 'killing game simulation' is now merely a 'simulation' with little to no risks for it's users that even the Monokubs can't interfere with.**"

The robot looked nearly as proud giving this introduction as he did when he was trying to brag about his inventor's ingenuity or his own features.

"Wait, what? C'mon man, why would you tell Gonta this is some type of exit then? You just said this was something that was meant to help kill us!" Kaito shouted, looking frustrated about getting our hopes up for nothing.

"I didn't say it was an exit, **I said that you could see it as a way out! Your mind leaves our current school setting and enters a safer space for us all to interact in. No Exisals, no Monokubs, no risk of motives.**" The robotic boy responded.

"So it's just like a virtual world, like the Matrix?" Tokuko summed up, clearly interested.

"Basically, but it should be incredibly realistic for all of you. I only say 'should be' on the off chance my sensory input data works a bit differently than for everyone else, but I can tweak things if I need to! This includes any changes you'd like me to make for the avatars you each will have in there."

"Neat! Sounds fun. But do we allll need to do this? I mean if Kiyo wants to stay out why not let him?" Kokichi said with a cruel Cheshire cat grin, as Kiyo looked a tiny bit confused at the suggestion.

"I would very much prefer he in particular comes with us actually." Keebo said. "While your consciousness is hooked up with these machines you won't be able to feel your real bodies anymore in favor of moving your avatars, so even with Gonta's supervision not including him could be… ill-advised."

"What's an 'ah-vuh-tar'?" Gonta asked.

"It's like Keebo made a smaller version of yourself for you to control in the world in the box, since you wouldn't fit." Miyuji explained simply for him.

"Oh, OK!" The entomologist said with a smile, while Angie and Kokichi laughed.

With a resigned sigh, Kiyo took a seat. "Can we please get this over with quickly then?"

"H-hey, we didn't agree we'd even be doing this yet so don't you degenerates go making decisions for us!" Tenko yelled.

"Indeed, indeed! Atua doesn't trust anything with the Monokubs involved either." Angie agreed. "Angie can understand wanting others to experience your work firsthand, but are you sure it'd be safe? How do we know they didn't hide a motive in there to take us by surprise?"

"I checked everything, there is no way he could have something like that still in there, and if I did find anything I would have told you all." Keebo explained. "I highly doubt there's any way left for me to make this system safer for everyone. **I deleted absolutely everything that I thought could ever be used as a weapon, nothing can be broken, and I don't believe the avatars should be able to take any damage.**"

"You don't _believe_ they can?" The aikido master incredulously asked.

"I couldn't test things too much by myself! But I wouldn't ask this if I had any doubts about your safety." The robot responded.

"At least try it you two. If we all stay together what's the worst that could happen?" Kaede asked, trying to convince them.

Both girls looked pointedly at Kiyo, who in turn looked at her as if to ask what else could she expect. The pianist just glared at him, while Keebo looked like he had a solution but didn't think he should mention it yet. Not that Kaito needed to hear it to get back onboard.

"Yeah, we should have faith in Keebo! He's not the sort of guy to lie about technical stuff."

"Or at all." Ryoma teased.

"Pfft, Not well at any rate. It's not like a robot like him could intentionally put humans in danger, riiight?" Kokichi mocked.

"I told you already Kokichi, I'm not entirely three laws compliant! The professor feared it could create loopholes that may harm my mental development or sense of self-worth if he made them impossible to disobey." Keebo responded.

_Wow, that didn't help as much as Mr. Idabashi was hoping then. Poor Keebo._ I thought.

"It probably would have been better for you to have gone with that excuse, Keebo. But your honesty also proves your point, doesn't it? I believe you at least!" Tokuko agreed.

_Or maybe it isn't. Technically this could make us all 2D, or 'fictional', right?_ I thought.

"It's not that we don't trust what he _thinks_ he did, but it was the degenerate Monokub that helped teach him how to change his and his siblings' program and he's still new at this on top of that! But if it means so much to him… Fine. I'll do it." Tenko reluctantly grumbled. "But if _anything_ goes wrong in there someone's gonna pay big time when we wake up!"

"Nothing is going to go wrong, I promise! I honestly believe you all will greatly appreciate this." Keebo quickly said.

"This isn't more of your 'inner voice' stuff, is it? Haven't we all moved on from that Atua-type nonsense?" Kokichi asked, obviously trying to get a rise from the robot again. And as always he got one like clockwork.

"Of course it is, and this has nothing to do with Atua. My inner voice wouldn't steer me wrong. And while I no longer believe in it either it's still very rude to dismiss Angie's beliefs as being 'nonsense'!"

"I'm just saying Pinokeebo. For us humans, hearing voices isn't exactly a good sign of anything."

"Just because your conscience has given up on you doesn't mean the rest of us are crazy for having one."

"I'm not really sure I'd call that an 'inner voice', but Keebo is a robot. Maybe that's just how it is for him." I theorized.

Kokichi gave Kaede a scowl when he heard her giggling, but he let Keebo have this little victory and took a seat. It wasn't like he was normally good at comebacks in the first place, and the robot looked so proud of this.

With all of our biggest concerns addressed as well as they could be, all of us still standing found our own chairs and started setting up the visors the way Keebo told us too. I was a bit confused as to why the robot hadn't put the red and blue cables into the ports already, but he claimed it was because he didn't want to risk making a tripping hazard for anyone as he helped make sure no one made any mistakes.

Gonta nearly did thanks to Angie distracting him for a bit, as he initially put the red 'consciousness' cord in the left port that was made to handle the blue 'memory' cord, but the mistake was quickly found and corrected. When Keebo was satisfied that everything was finally ready to go without incident he told us to put the headsets on and press the button near our temples to enter the simulation.

He quickly mentioned he'd be the last to arrive as he wanted to make sure no one was experiencing any difficulties before going in, since our bodies would be relatively defenseless and wouldn't feel anything in this sleep-like state, but that was the last I heard before the world went black.

It was an odd sensation, watching as the data passed me by. I expected things to be instantaneous, but there I was, staring at the Ultimate Academy's handcuffed and scarred emblem with a 'Welcome to the Neo World Program' message in the corner of the startup screen.

Soon after, I found myself in a parlor. It was comforting to see I wasn't alone, as Kaede, Kaito, Ryoma, Miyuji, Tokuko, and Gonta appeared at around the same time I did. But we all looked… different. All of us were… well, _cuter_, for lack of a better term.

"Check it out, we've been chibified!" Tokuko exclaimed.

It made sense that she would think that. These designs might've been even more simplified than the game I've played before the Killing Titan War. And for whatever reason Ryoma looked a lot taller, but he didn't actually change much otherwise, so the feeling was just surreal. I didn't even need to look up as much to see Gonta's face either. Kaede wasn't wearing Shuichi's hat, showing a shortened ahoge on her head.

"...Is this what being tall feels like?" Ryoma asked as he looked around, and adjusted to being at eye level with everyone else for a change. His beanie's horns almost looked like cat ears now with how they'd been squatted down, which made Kaede giggle and got Ryoma trying to hide his blush.

"I think you mean more like 'being average size' in your case." Miyuji snarked.

"This feels weird. I can move this avatar so freely it's like it doesn't even matter what condition my body was in before." Kaito said as he did some stretches to prove his point.

_Why didn't he say so sooner?!_ I thought.

"What condition are you talking about? Did you pull a muscle during last night's training or something? Jeez, you should tell us when something like that happens you know!" Kaede exclaimed.

"Y-Yeah, that's it. Sorry, I didn't wanna to worry ya."

"Liar. Like you ever do enough during training to pull or strain much of anything." Ryoma jokingly scoffed.

"Hey! Come one, don't be like that-" Anything else the astronaut might have wanted to say was cut off by Kiyo's arrival, much to Gonta's relief. The calligrapher was a lot less pleased by this development.

The second he showed up it was like he was on edge, looking around like he was missing something before taking in the state of his new body. Which didn't improve his mood any. He even has comical blue lines floating above his head. "...I want to leave."

"No! Keebo say he want to show friends his ver-chew-ul world, so we stay! Kiyo barely here at all, he at least need to thank Keebo for making this for friends." Gonta scolded him, so Kaede followed suit too.

"Yeah! No need to be so quick to judge it."

"But everything's so… _quiet_ now. Warmer too. I don't like this. Worst than Makna Forest."

Before I could ask what he meant Kokichi, Angie, and Tenko arrived at the same time, like my group did.

"Oh~ so this is the Virtual World huh?" Kokichi started rambling with his little nods and Mm-hmms as he took note of everything around him, toying with the loose belts on his avatar a bit as he did so. He started walking around the room, getting a look at our avatars, before he stopped behind Kiyo with a wicked smile on his face.

The faux anthropologist barely had a chance to respond before being punched in the face, given the lack of their previous height difference. Angie laughed at that while Kiyo rubbed at his cheek where he was hit.

"What the hell was THAT for?" He asked.

"Keebo said avatars couldn't be hurt riiight? So I'm just testing that to see if it's true! Soooo, _did_ it hurt?" Kokichi said with a grin as if he already knew the answer.

"Of course it did. I think he phrased as **making them immune to damage, not pain**, so I can't tell if this refutes his previous claim." The faux anthropologist theorized. "But couldn't you just pinch _yourself_ to test this?"

"Nope! Doing it this way shows our senses are connected in here, since we know I didn't _actually_ punch you. Besides, that trick never worked when I dreamed either, so what's the point?" The supreme leader said mockingly.

"I see, I see. This place could be considered like a shared dream, couldn't it? A peaceful dreamland we can enter by sleeping in our own paradise~" Angie hummed to herself.

"If this was my dream there definitely wouldn't be any males in it. But I _love_ how CUTE we are now!" Tenko gushed as she bounced around, getting a look at everyone while nodding her head appraisingly at each of the girls including me.

And speaking of males, with everyone else accounted for Keebo finally entered the simulation. But his avatar was the most different by far.

His eyes were blue again like they were before Miu died, and the robotic lines under his eyes were gone. He was also wearing a fairly normal buttoned-up school uniform, instead of having his robotic parts exposed and styled to imitate one. There was even a pair of black gloves to hide his hands from view.

It was like he was trying to look more Homs-like in here, despite the rest of us being made to look largely the same. I wasn't sure if using a virtual program to change himself like this was ironic or upsetting.

"So, what does everyone think? If anyone has any issues with their avatars' appearances I can easily make some changes for you later, like my own. I just thought some equilibrium might be appreciated, and making their designs like this made them a lot easier to edit than what the system already had for us."

"You mean in terms of heights?" I asked him, looking between Ryoma and Gonta again.

"Well yes, that too! But **all of us also have the same strengths and speeds, so we're on equal ground**. It's not like anyone should really need them in here, since **nothing can be broken**."

"W-Wait, so Mini-Gonta weaker than real Gonta?! Then how Mini-Gonta protect girls from Mini-Kiyo?!" Gonta nearly shouted, while Kiyo perked at this information.

"O-oh, not to worry! Kiyo's avatar already has some personal adjustments to it. **If he comes into contact with a female avatar, for any reason, he'll be paused for as long as he's touching her and for a brief window after it stops.** This way Tenko's not the only girl fully capable of defending herself!" Keebo quickly explained. This did little to comfort Gonta, and Kiyo merely shrugged as if he saw this catch coming.

"Did that mean you had to make me weaker too though..? YOU REALLY ARE A MALE AREN'T YOU?! MASTER WAS RIGHT ALL ALONG!" Tenko shouted.

"No he wasn't, there was no way he could've bloody known this would happen. You're just way too gullible." Tokuko replied in a teasing tone.

"So you know about the way our senses would connect, therefore our avatars' ability to feel pain right?" Kiyo asked.

"A-Ah. Right, I did leave that out didn't I? I mean, I haven't been able to test that much so I didn't want to worry anyone. The program directly affects the brains of everyone in it in real time, and by affecting the brain every sensation that you think should be occurring in here, like pain, will actually be felt by you. This applies to all five senses, and it's hard to get rid of any impulses that might be read as negative feelings." The robot explained.

"Doesn't that mean that if we think something should have killed us we really _could_ die?" Angie asked.

"I really don't think so! I mean, even if you think you should be in pain if you can't see an injury on your avatar that should help right? Please, let's not linger on this stuff right now. Let me show you the map! So you can all get a better idea of what this world is like."

Keebo led us all from the room to the main hall to explain all the other changes he'd made to the program, clearly ecstatic to finally have something to show off for himself. And from what I could see he had every right to be. I wouldn't be surprised if the only other person who could have gotten this program working and made it so safe for us would have been Miu herself.

He may have even solved part of our problems with what to do with Kiyo if this all worked out. The world he had here might not have been that large in the grand scheme of things, but if he couldn't attack anyone he wouldn't need to be watched like a hawk. It could give him, Gonta, Ryoma, Kaito, and Tokuko all more freedom in a sense, which everyone could use more of in this hell.

I was impressed by the map she could see at least. There was a church to the left of the mansion we were currently in, that could probably be seen from the dining hall, and even a forest behind us. I wasn't sure where the bridge over the rightmost river could lead to, as there were just squiggles beyond there. There were more squiggles at the end of the road past the church too, which Keebo kept calling it a 'loading point'.

However, as he was explaining what he meant by 'loading point', there was a knock from the salon door.

Miyuji was the first to respond to it, but the rest of us had a similar thought. "...Huh?"

"Are there NPCs you haven't gotten to telling us about yet Keebo?" Kaede nervously asked.

"N-No! I mean the program does have the ability to make those in theory but in practice they were way too complex for me to get my head around. We really should be the only ones in here! Monosuke said not even him or his siblings would be able to harass us since they aren't compatible with it." Keebo admitted.

All of us were panicked at the robot's admission and stayed as far from the door as we could. According to the map there was only one way out of the salon so whoever was inside had nowhere else they could go.

But the figure that did eventually come out wasn't someone any of us could've expected.

My eyes widened in surprise when I saw Zellium come in.

"Zell!" I exclaimed as I ran to him.

"Sharla! I'm so relieved that you're OK!" My Cinderace partner said as we embraced each other in a hug.

"How did you get in here?" I asked.

**"Me and Sae were watching without the mastermind noticing and I managed to find one of the helmets needed to get in here already set up the way it was supposed to."** Zellium explained. "I figured something crazy like this would occur and thought you would be here."

"Hold on a second, if **you and Sae were watching the mastermind behind their back then what **_**did**_** they do to Shulk?**"

**"They had him chained by his wrists and they also took away most of his ability to fight right out of his body. We saw it with our own eyes. The resulting transformation was... horrifying to say the least. He was breathing hard when me and Sae broke in and got him out. It seems like the mastermind's made you their primary target."**

I gasped in shock. "So that's what they're planning! **They're trying to get the traitors to kill me and plans to do it themselves if they fail!**"

Zellium nodded. "Right. **And all of the traitors were disciples of Zanza.**"

**"Then I'm glad to say that the Disciple of Speed and the Ultimate Seamstress, Tsumugi Shirogane has died."** I responded.

I could hear the confused conversations of the others as the two of us broke from our embrace.

"Ooook, will someone explain what's going on and who the hell this is now? Because I'm confused." Kaito said.

I turned to face the others. "Right. Everyone, this is Zellium. He's my Pokémon partner in the Killing Titan War."

"Nice to meet all of you!" He said with a wave.

"Your partner? Wait, **he's the Scorbunny you mentioned to me earlier**!" Miyuji exclaimed.

**"Looks like that fiery little bunny has warp evolved into a Cinderace at some point."** Tokuko said. "It's quite an extremely rare sight."

* * *

I wasn't sure what happened after that but after my reunion with Zellium, Keebo kept explaining how the Virtual World is supposed to work and we got a good look at the snowy scenery that reminded me of Valak Mountain on the roof of the mansion before we decided to call it a night and head back to reality.

Zellium told me that two of the remaining traitors have to die in order to put his plan into action before leaving.

_**The mastermind isn't giving up on trying to get me killed, aren't they?**_ I thought to myself as I went to sleep.


	30. Chapter 4: T of D, T of L - Part 3

I woke up the next day to find a letter of some sort. I picked it up and began to read what was written.

"To the eight students who receive this message, please meet us in the gym after you've had breakfast. The murder motive for this trial is ready to go! We'll explain everything once all of you show up. From, Monosuke, Monodam, and Monophanie." It read.

_**Did seven of the others receive this too?**_ I thought to myself.

Regardless of the message, breakfast went by pretty normally with the exception of a discussion about some videos Kaito, Ryoma, Tenko, and Keebo received. I went to the gym to see Miyuji, Tokuko, Kaede, Gonta, Kiyo, Angie, and Kokichi already there.

"Yo, Sharla! You got the Monokubs' weird message too?" Miyuji asked.

"And I assume you guys got the same?" I snarked.

"What the bloody hell do those bears think they can achieve by havin' us gather here?" Tokuko said in irritation. "It's already bad enough that they're keepin' us here at ransom, so how is a fuckin' motive goin' to make us feel better?!"

"Maybe we'll finally **find out who the rest of the traitors are**?" Kaede suggested.

"Indeed, indeed~! Atua says if not everyone is here then the motive must be done!" Angie agreed.

"Letter did mention motive was ready." Gonta pointed out.

"Right. You guys already know that me and Tsumugi are two of them, then **the Monokubs probably want reveal who the other three are. And it looks like they're all with us**." Kiyo theorized.

"Or maybe they aren't, who knows~?" Kokichi muttered.

"That bloody doesn't-" Tokuko's yelling was cut off by a familiar chorus of 'Rise and Shine, Ursine', minus the loudest and deepest voice in their tune. The set of three cubs now stood in the middle of the room but before each of them bounced off Gonta, Angie, and Kokichi's heads which me and Miyuji found hilarious.

_Still, why __**did**__ they bounce of their heads anyway? They've never did that before._ I thought to myself.

"All right, everyone's here so listen up!" Monosuke yelled. "Everythin' is finally ready! **So we're gonna tell youse who the other three traitors are while those who aren't here are distracted!**"

"THE-OTHER-THREE-TRAITORS-ARE..." Monodam began.

"Are who?!" Miyuji asked in a panic. "TELL US!"

**"They are Gonta Gokuhara, Angie Yonaga, and Kokichi Oma!"** Monophanie finished for her robotic brother.

"WHAT?!" Miyuji, Tokuko, and Kaede shouted at the same time.

"Oh dear... It looks like my fears have been confirmed." Kiyo muttered. **"By revealing the rest of the disciples still alive in this game, they're using the sting of betrayal as the motive to get us to commit murder."**

"Damn it!" I shouted as the memories completely returned to me. "I knew they would resort to this but like the way this happened? And that includes **who we thought Gonta, Angie, and Kokichi were**!"

"Who we thought they were?" Kaede repeated. **"So the reason why the Monokubs bounced off their heads is to destroy the Flashback Lights' effects!"**

"But that means **those three could possibly bloody kill all of us in cold blood right here and now**!" Tokuko exclaimed.

"Agh! Let's get out of here before that happens! The Monokubs are already out of here!" Miyuji advised as she ran to the doors but noticed that she couldn't open them. "What the hell?! It's locked?! Since _when_ could those bears do _that_?!"

When the vocalist turned around, I saw Kiyo place a sword in Gonta's hands. Him, Angie, and Kokichi all looked at their fellow disciple with dark expressions.

**"Kill them!"** He commanded as he pointed at the four of us.

Gonta charged at me first while Kaede and Tokuko got into a struggle with Angie and Kokichi respectively. I leapt out of the way of Gonta's sword as he slashed down.

_None of them are holding back now!_ I thought as I landed onto the floor. _Regardless, I shouldn't use __**that power**__ here yet._

The Ultimate Disciple slashed down at me but before he could hit me Miyuji managed to inflict Topple onto Kiyo before running in front me and stopped Gonta's sword mid-swing with her bare hands. She started to bleed a bit because of the sharpness of the blade.

"Why are you in my way?!" Gonta asked. "Stand back and let me kill her!"

The vocalist's eyes widened upon hearing him speak in perfect English before calming herself down. "Never! I won't let you harm her!"

"Miyuji, you need to get out of here!" I yelled. **"Gonta's the Ultimate Disciple. He can kill you!"**

"So what? I _care_ for him regardless of his role in the Killing Titan War!" She screamed. "If I _do_ end up becoming one of the victims of Zanza's Disciples, then I might as well go out with a big bang!"

The most powerful of the god of the Bionis' disciples scoffed. "You CARE for me? This isn't the first time someone had fallen for me."

I remember what he was talking about. His previous love interest, Bea Ikusawa, who was killed during the attack on Colony 6 by Murasaki. Even then Miyuji kept pushing Gonta's sword back as I whispered this information to her.

"This girl, **Bea**, **you miss her and if she was still alive...**" The vocalist said. **"She would be proud when I say this. I-I love you."**

Those last three words stopped all of the Disciples in their tracks, causing Kaede and Tokuko to become able to knock Angie and Kokichi down with Kiyo. Gonta took a few steps back as he blushed and dropped the sword he was holding.

"W-What..? Are you screwing with me?" He asked in confusion.

"No. I mean it. Now that I know exactly what happened from Sharla, I'll love you no matter who or what you are!" Miyuji exclaimed.

She gently pulled him down to her eye level and pressed her black lipstick covered lips against Gonta's bare ones. He soon got over his shock and returned the kiss.

Once they parted, the doors to the hallway were apparently unlocked as Angie and Kokichi were able to leave without saying a word. The rest of us decided to do the same.

Despite the lighthearted outcome and Miyuji's love confession, I couldn't help but think to myself.

_**All of the traitors are free from the effects of the Flashback Lights.**_

_**And the Monokubs are using both the sting of betrayal and the videos Kaito, Ryoma, Tenko, and Keebo received to get us to kill each other.**_

_But why..?_

_Why is the mastermind making us go through this much despair?_

_**I can't let them win... I can not!**_

_**I will stop them and end this killing game!**_


	31. Chapter 4: T of D, T of L - Part 4

I wasn't sure what to expect the next day but after hearing arguments between Gonta, Kokichi, Kiyo, Ryoma, and Keebo, I went to the dining hall to see Kaito, Tokuko, Miyuji, Kaede, and Tenko already there.

_From the sounds of it, __**it seems like Kaito and Tenko were told about Gonta, Angie, and Kokichi's true natures.**_ I thought to myself.

"Uh, Sharla? Do you mind telling us who the hell _were_ those three? 'Cause I am completely lost here." Kaito asked.

"I-I can't help but agree with the degenerate." Tenko admitted.

"I think it's best if you see it to believe it." I said.

"It's pretty crazy, I'll go with you so I can get a bloody good look on your faces." Tokuko offered with a smirk.

No one had any objections as she left with the astronaut and the aikido master following behind her.

Miyuji looked down with a light blush and tears in her eyes. "I wonder if I did the right thing by confessing to Gonta."

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Miyuji." I told her. "Your confession prevented your own brutal death and saved Gonta from execution."

"Besides, me and you both don't want to die yet." Kaede muttered. "Even if the mastermind sends us into despair."

"You're both right." The vocalist responded as she wiped away her tears. "Besides, Angie asked me to meet her in her lab."

"We'll go with you." Kaede said as the three of us left the dining hall.

When we got to the fourth floor and entered Angie's lab, six more statues were in there along with the other four and the faux artist herself. This time the lifelike statues looked like Maki, Kirumi, Shuichi, Monokuma, Monotaro, and Monokid. Like before, the reality of them felt like if they never died.

"You made more of them, Angie?" I asked.

"Yes, and I didn't want Monokuma and his cubs to be left out despite what they've put us through." The platinum blonde-haired girl answered.

"Well they certainly look as real as they could get." Miyuji pointed out.

_It's hard to believe that Angie's artistic talents were preserved by the Flashback Lights._ I thought.

No matter how crazy it may seem knowing she already had drawing skills during and after the Killing Titan War was crazier than what I thought it was going to be.

Regardless I asked Miyuji and Kaede if they just wanted to hang out for a change of pace, to make up for what happened when the motive was revealed.

_I don't want them to think I only hung out with them because I wanted something! And this time there won't be any dangerous people around to sour the mood. This should help me calm down some after what happened in the gym._ I thought to myself.

* * *

It was fun, spending time with them. Miyuji even offered to write lyrics for Kaede's piano pieces in her cozy little lab instead of her personal room. Not that the vocalist was trying to hide her confusion going through the pianist's music collection, I found that pretty funny.

Regardless, it was amusing to see both musically-gifted girls work together to create a melody that's sure to entertain.

Which made the Monokubs' televised interruption all the more jarring. Though with how late it must have been getting we should've been expecting the nighttime announcement, so that was our own fault.

_**DING-DONG, DONG-DING **_

**"A body has been discovered!"**

Soon after, I instinctively ran to the pool area. The sound of Kaito's muffled yelling as I approached was as much of a relief as it was heart-wrenching. But when I joined him there was a glimmer of hope, beyond Kaito's own survival.

Kaito was doing chest compressions. Despite hearing the bell, despite the horrors they were faced with, he was still trying to bring Ryoma back.

_And if anyone here besides me knew how to do CPR right it was Kaito!_ I thought.

But it didn't help the world come into focus that much. At least I felt I could somewhat fake it now.

Kaito was trying to say something to me, but she was spared worrying him by a different sort of interruption. Though it was a shame the first thing I heard somewhat clearly were the Monokubs' voices announcing it was nighttime already. Which meant it was 10 o'clock. 10 hours since we left the dining hall.

"Jeez, we're lucky I got him out as soon as I did then huh?" Kaito muttered to himself, voice betraying any attempt at a calm facade he had as he took another ten-second pause. "Hope I'm just lucky enough."

"Well it's not like those bears would really bloody punish us for breaking the 'no pool at nighttime' rule in this case, could they? I mean it's for an investigation-" Tokuko tried to offer, flitting around Kaito trying to see if there was anything she could do to help. But Ryoma wasn't responding.

And every time Kaito's pushing failed to get Ryoma to cough the more my heart sank again.

Seeing Kaede tearing up again got Miyuji's attention as she started trying to comfort the pianist, seeing as there was nothing she could do for Ryoma or Kaito.

I felt really sorry for Kaito because now all of his best friends except Tokuko were dead. First Maki, then Shuichi, and now...

He has lost Ryoma Hoshi. The one person who also had faith in him after nearly becoming a murder victim that he now is.

_Damn it. How could this happen again? **Who could've killed Ryoma and shattered Kaito's confidence?**_ I thought to myself.


	32. Chapter 4: T of D, T of L - Part 5

**...**

**Begin Deadly Life**

"I-I know this happened before, b-but still why did this happen?" Kokichi muttered.

Giving his true personality, it makes sense for him to react like this. Even disciples can feel fear when someone they never personally knew is killed.

Not that there was much of anything to be found. Even when the Monokubs deigned themselves to show up and provide the case's Monokubs File we had barely anything to work with. Ryoma's time of death wasn't even a full hour ago, but what caused it was still a mystery. So at least he hadn't drowned.

I didn't want to stop Kaito from his attempts at CPR. With a nod to himself, Kokichi decided to get the ball rolling by establishing what alibis he could outside of the virtual world.

"Y-You'll probably won't believe me, but **I was the third person to see him like this**. A-And I'm not saying this whole thing twice, O-OK?" He muttered. "K-Kaito bailed on me to go find Ryoma, so I went to check on Keebo and the rest of you. W-When I passed Ryoma's lab I heard Kaito yelling, but no one was in my sight when I checked. I-I figured his voice came from somewhere else and w-went to the bathroom to make sure. **T-The announcement went off as soon as I saw K-Kaito and R-Ryoma in the pool from the window up there, s-so I'm guessing Kaito w-was the second person to see h-him. S-Since no one else was nearby and Kaito had just f-found him when I s-saw him. W-Which leaves one u-unknown witness.**"

"And it isn't either of the three of us." Kaede added. "Miyuji and Sharla were with me the entire time, we only left my lab because we heard the discovery announcement. So someone in the simulation saw what happened-"

"Don't you mean two people? I mean… if Kaito was a witness, and Kokichi was a witness, then that means one of them has to be the bloody killer, right?" Miyuji brought up, not looking up from Ryoma's body.

"I highly doubt that's the case here." I said. "Let's find Gonta and enter the Virtual World to search for anything linked to this murder and I'll ask Zellium if he knows anything."

* * *

After talking to Zellium and finding out that the Virtual World might be where the actual murder took place, we went back to the real world to investigate some more. There was even less evidence for this case than the last body had. We could only assume it occurred close to when Ryoma's attack happened since someone in the simulation must have played a role in his death too.

Which would be around nine, probably when Ryoma's "shift" ended. If Zellium was killed first it could be a lot earlier than that, as Tenko and Gonta wouldn't be sure when they lost track of him when exploring the woods. Angie insisted she and Kiyo had been together for most of the evening, talking in the church, so both seemed to support that they hadn't seen her. But any of those four could be lying.

Regardless, it was time for the trial to begin. Gonta, Tenko, Kiyo, and Angie were the most likely suspects. Tokuko mentioned that the number of us dead was becoming noticeable by how empty the elevator felt. As the elevator made it's way down to the trial room with all of us in it, I really couldn't help but think to myself as an image of Ryoma's body flashed in my mind.

_With Ryoma's death, Kaito has lost all of his close friends except for Tokuko._

_**This can't be good for any of us... even the culprit must've felt bad.**_

Images of Gonta, Kiyo, Tenko, and Angie flashed in my mind.

_**The chances of a disciple being the said 'culprit' is really saying a lot about this case.**_

_But still... __**I must keep fighting so Zellium can put his plan into action**__._

Images of everyone flashed in my mind once more.

_**He just needs a little bit more time, hopefully this trial is all it takes! I feel like there's more to this than any of us thought.**__ Regardless if that's true. I have to expose the culprit behind this tragedy in this trial of truth and lies!_


	33. Chapter 4: T of D, T of L - Part 6

**Class Trial - IN SESSION**

**...**

Once again we filed out of the elevator and made our way to our podiums. I looked around the mockery of a courtroom and saw two more memorials of the fallen.

Tokuko was alone now, flanked on both sides with faces of the deceased. Those of one of her closest friends in the academy, and the other of one of past blackened. The 'X' over Shuichi's face was in a more cursive looking style. I couldn't imagine how hard it must be for her to only have her crush Kaito and best friend Miyuji being the only ones out of her friends to still be here.

Ryoma's wasn't much different, aside from technically not being held at his true height. Much like during the actual trials it was made at the level he participated at, minus the box he'd have to stand on for it. And seeing that cross over his monochrome face stung me all the more with how impersonal his was compared to the others. Just a harsh blocky 'X', not a trace of his talent or personality to it.

_It's almost like his death was meant to happen from the start._ I thought to myself.

After the basic explanation, Kaede decided to begin our debate. "First, **we need to clarify if Zellium not seeing anything suspicous while, Gonta, Tenko, Kiyo, and Angie were in the Virtual World is related or not**."

"**T-The killer must've s-snuck past him somehow in the V-Virtual World** if that's the c-case." Kokichi theorized.

I listened to the non-stop debate soon after and heard Keebo say the contradiction I was looking for.

"If it wasn't Zellium who noticed anything **who else could have noticed?!**"

_That's a good question. But at the same time __**there was evidence it might not be his original avatar**__, wasn't there?_ I thought.

_It's one of the few pieces of evidence for this case that we do have. Could it be a hint that what we found in the Virtual World is all we need?_

_**That would explain why Ryoma's cause of death is unknown, if we don't really need a murder weapon.**_

_But we need to take this one step at a time. If we rush ahead we could slip up._

_And if we do that'll be the end of us._

"Why are you asking that, Keebo? **Didn't you make it possible for us to change between avatars?** How exactly does that work?" I asked him, as I hadn't been able to before.

"Oh. I mean, it's pretty simple. You enter the wardrobe, it brings up the list of all of the avatars I've made, and among those not currently being used you can select one." The robot explained. "Obviously, **trading avatars will add your previous one to the list of options**, I just wanted to avoid a case like two of us having identical forms. It'd just make things really confusing."

Kokichi was quick to see where I was going with this. "A-And how many avatars d-don't we use anymore? D-Do you have an accurate option?"

"Well, let's see… there's no other version of me, I didn't see any reason to." Keebo started and counted along with his fingers as he went on. "**Kiyo has two variants, his original and the 'gender flip'. Angie also has two, the latter with adjustments to how it senses the cold since I had troubles with just updating her original. And Tenko has two as well, she asked me to make a duplicate of hers so she and Ryoma could test the wardrobe while I was still tweaking it**. So that's **three unused sprites in addition to the 11 of us and Zellium**."

"Yup! I actually got Ryoma to play twinsies with me!" Tenko said with a smile before her face fell. "It was nice of him... Zellium was willing to do it too of course! Gonta just thought it'd be a bit too risky so that was a no-go. So Ryoma offered since Angie said she was too busy trying to cheer up the weirdo."

"I didn't do that! I just thought it was a bad idea!" Angie objected. "So what if I was having fun?"

"You were also buried under several supplies at the time." Kiyo snarked.

"I could have gotten her out!" Keebo exclaimed.

"I doubt it. Unless you were willing to work with me to get her out, you wouldn't do much better than I did." The faux anthropologist responded.

"Stuck? I wasn't! There's a lot of fun things to do once the boxes were tipped over." The faux artist insisted.

"You weren't supposed to do that!" The robotic student complained. "I set them up like that for your own safety."

"We're getting sidetracked!" Miyuji interrupted. "Was Angie playing in the decorations before or after the walk along the river?"

_That's still losing the point of Kokichi's question though!_ I thought.

"Before, getting her out of that mess so Keebo wouldn't get stressed out by the bloody havoc she had wrought was one of Ryoma's stated objectives." Tokuko answered.

"Yeah! And the fact that he left Kiyo alone to try and mess up what I was working on was very weird!" Angie agreed.

"That… is not the way I'd describe it." Tenko stated with a wary look on her face as she poked her fingers together.

"It's OK. We all have our own opinions." The dancer responded.

"OK, well, at least that helps give us some sort of timeline. But we're losing the point of Kokichi's question!" I yelled. **"And we do have evidence that Zellium **_**did**_** notice suspicious activity."**

"What?! But there was nothing else there could be-" Keebo tried to argue.

**"Kokichi saw Kiyo's 'gender bend' avatar near the river! Unless the mask and gloves he found in the avatar's pockets was part of how it was designed, Keebo, I think that counts."** I argued back.

"I-It was also flat as a board." Kokichi nervously added.

"I can't tell if you're a brave man or a dead man for saying that in front of Kiyo right now." Miyuji joked.

"We're good friends so it's fine." The calligrapher replied.

"So, Keebo? Is that proof enough for you?" Kaede asked.

"I… Yes. But when could he have gotten access to the wardrobe?!"

"It's OK, Keebo, let's just take things one step at a time. Hell, **maybe it wasn't even Zellium**." Kaito offered.

"If it isn't Zellium then who else could it be? Can avatars just be left lying around, like clothes?" Gonta wondered.

"Well, I didn't think that they could." Keebo said with a troubled expression. "**They always disappear when a person logs out.** But with how he was still around I don't see how else to explain it."

"Then maybe we should focus on something else for now." I suggested.

* * *

I wasn't sure where things went from there with arguments flying back and forth. But eventually, a horrifying truth was revealed once Tokuko confirmed that Gonta seemed to be waiting for her in the salon while she was in the Virtual World.

Gonta was going to try to kill her and use the 'first come, first serve' rule to get away with her death.

Most of us were in shock when this was revealed.

"Look, I'm the Ultimate Disciple. The most powerful of all of Zanza's Disciples. So you guys should've fuckin' expected this to happen at some point. I figured Tokuko was the perfect target for my plan to work since I felt like Miyuji didn't deserve to be her best friend." Gonta explained.

Miyuji now had tears running down her face. "Y-You were willing to kill her so we could stay together?"

The faux entomologist also had tears running down his face as well. "I'm sorry. I thought she was in the way of our love like Murasaki was when she killed Bea in cold blood. I'm sorry to both of you for my murder attempt. The pain of the Killing Titan War still lingers with me, that's all."

Tokuko was also crying just as hard. "If what we know of the war is true. T-Then it's OK if you thought our friendship was in the way of your love."

Needless to say that several of us were crying now. I couldn't help but think to myself as this went on.

_**I think I know who killed Ryoma now.**_

_Gonta made it clear that he isn't the culprit we're looking for._

_The pain of the Killing Titan War still lingers with me too._

_So I can understand his motive._

_**But now I must confront his Disciple friend who's responsible for our suffering here and now.**_

_I wish I didn't have to do this, but they left me with no other choice!_

**...**

**Class Trial - INTERMISSION**


	34. Chapter 4: T of D, T of L - Part 7

**Class Trial - RESUME**

**...**

Once everyone who was crying calmed down, Angie decided to bring the discussion back to Ryoma.

"Hey, **Tenko**? You said Ryoma was OK with you and Zellium's plan right?" She asked.

"Y-Yeah. What about it?" The aikido master replied.

"Was he really OK with _you_ being involved with it?" Angie tilted herself at an angle, to see if it would help her catch any small details or help catch the taller girl off-guard.

"Why wouldn't he be?" Tenko tried to ask, to brush Angie's oddities off as if it was just her being silly. But Kokichi saw through it.

"I-I really don't h-have a c-clue." He muttered, and Tenko immediately started to cringe. And not in her normal 'Ew-why-is-this-pest-known-as-a-male-trying-to-speak-to-me-can-I-kill-it' cringe-face. The 'Oh-no-I-didn't-think-this-through' type of cringey-face as he pulled apart her bluff. "W-Why would the guy who offered to die i-immediately when put in a m-murder game to help buy the rest of us time have a problem with a g-girl like yourself trying to get away with 'technically' murdering a m-man? As opposed to say… o-offering to take your place in this p-plan?"

"Wait. What would Tenko's place in the plan even have been?" Kaito asked.

I wasn't even sure how long the debate about if Tenko was the one who killed Ryoma went on but near the end of it, I could see Angie shaking with regret and anger when she mentioned Kiyo wasn't the killer when suspicion went to him.

"So how can you say for sure the degenerate isn't our real culprit Angie?!" Tenko asked.

The faux artist shook more before shouting at the top of her lungs. **"BECAUSE I PUSHED HIM!"**

She had to take a moment to regain control of her breathing after making that dreaded confession. But at least all of us knew who Ryoma's killer was.

"I saw Ryoma trying to attack Kiyo on the bridge. I made Kiyo's avatar pause in place and pushed Ryoma into the river thinking he could swim somewhere far away."

**"So you pushed him off the bridge, to save Kiyo from certain death?"** Kaede asked, but thankfully her eyes were understanding. There were no bitter feelings to be found in them, only the pain of true sympathy.

"Yeah! I thought the river's current would wash him away. It's not like I was trying to hurt him, but still... murder is murder."

**"You didn't know we can't swim in Keebo's world."** Kaito numbly supplied as his features at last softened with this final closure. **"Ryoma fell out of bounds, breaking the mental connection, and you had no idea."**

"Yes! I thought it was completely harmless! I may be a disciple of Zanza, but I didn't-" Angie caught herself and tried to slow herself so she could be as clear as possible. So there was no doubts about her words, and her reasons wouldn't change the truth we had all suffered for. "**I didn't think there was any reason why a river that narrow would be dangerous.** Keebo did such a excellent job making everything there safe! **I thought he covered everything. I forgot it could be deadly.**"

An argument between her and Kokichi broke out which caused Miyuji to start tearing up again.

_Zanza's disciples really do stick together when each other is in danger._ I thought to myself.

"See?! I admit it! **I KILLED RYOMA!**" Angie yelled before going silent.

That silence got the Monokubs to start Voting Time. I watched as the verdict machine lit up with Angie's face.

The Disciple of Elements had killed Ryoma Hoshi and most of us couldn't believe that this happened.

**...**

**Class Trial - ALL RISE**

**...**

Angie tried to handle herself with as much dignity as she could, now that her end was before her. But she had one last thing to do before her execution began.

"Ah. Oh well. This is the end for me. Sorry everyone, but it's been fun!" She said with as much energy she could muster and twirled to give all of us one last look into her eyes as she offered a final prayer. "May love always protect you all, and may you achieve the happy ending you strive for when this is over."

"Whatta bunch of bullshit." I heard Kaito hiss to himself, and he looked far more conflicted now than he had in previous trials and Tokuko had tears running down her face as she held him close. He was a fair bit paler too, and hearing the way he coughed concerned me.

"Kaito! **My love, there's still time to save her!**" The actress exclaimed. **"If you're gonna die trying to bloody save her, then I shall go down with you!"**

The astronaut laughed a bit. "I guess true love always finds a way for us then, huh?"

As the Monokubs prepared to start the execution, Angie took off her coat and plopped it onto Tenko's shoulders.

"Take good care of it for me, OK? It's important to keep those we love close to us, and objects can hold memories just like our hearts and minds do. So even if it stops being a raincoat, don't get rid of it!" She advised.

With her parting piece said, there was no reason to postpone things any longer. Before the Monokubs could snatch her away to meet her demise, and how they would try to break her spirit as they did, she squared her shoulders and gave us one last wave.

* * *

_**GAME OVER**_

_**Angie has been found guilty.**_

_**Time for the punishment!**_

* * *

Angie found herself tied by snake-like ropes that bound her struggling form to a post like a lowercase 't' at the center of a pile of kindling on a snowy field, with a river nearby much like how the Virtual World's setting was, and the sky above looked stormy. The faux artist was sure lightning was impossible during snow storms, but regardless of it was possible or artistic license that's the direction it looked like things were going.

Around her Christianity based cross-of-a-lightning rod she saw ruined depictions of other faiths too. Everything from wooden sculptures like totem heads or scrolls of pagan gods were ready to burn. She looked ready to vomit upon realizing what the Monokubs were going for.

They made her take on the role of Joan of Arc and was going to make the heavens 'smite' her for her insolence as Lorithia would say. The crimes born out of best intentions and poor judgement, including those that happened long before Ryoma may have come to harm.

* * *

_**Innocence Lost**_

_**Ultimate Traditional Dancer Angie Yonaga's Execution: Executed**_

* * *

Even though Zanza would've refused to let her die, Angie took a breath and prepared to accept it nonetheless. She felt an odd calmness within her as she saw the lightning flashes and resulting flames draw near her. As if it was the god of the Bionis protecting her from the full brunt of her torture.

But when Kaito and Tokuko tackled into her from the first strike, she wished Zanza was still alive to see this.

As kind as it is to keep her from dying alone, it was cruel to do so at the expense of two of her friends. But as her would-be saviors tried to untie her, urging her to escape the stage, she couldn't bring herself to voice those feelings. She simply tried to smother the pure gratitude that welled in her chest, and prayed for all three of their souls as the thunder kept crashing down.

Gonta, Miyuji, and Tenko could do nothing but weep as the astronaut and the actress try to pull the Disciple of Elements to a safety that didn't exist.

Kaito coughed up more blood and Tokuko caught him as he collapsed. Even then the actress kept carrying him and Angie across the field. Causing more snow tracks on the ground to form.

And spilling more and more of Tokuko's tears.

When she stopped to catch her breath, she looked up to see a holy lightning bolt above her, Angie, and Kaito and gasped in horror before the cruel god of this hell struck them down.

All anyone else could see when the dust cleared were bright blue flames where Angie, Kaito, and Tokuko once stood.

All three of them were no more.

* * *

All of us were breaking down in tears even after the execution was over.

"N-No way... Kaito... and Tokuko too?! NO!" Miyuji cried.

"I... I won't l-let Angie's final wish to be in vain!" Tenko managed to cry out despite her greif.

I was crying really hard as I went to my room for the night. Zellium's plan would finally be put into motion, but at the cost of three of my friends and the Disciple of Elements.

_Even if we were in space, Kaito wouldn't have wanted it this way._ I thought to myself as I went to sleep.

**...**

**End of Chapter 4: Tears of Despair, Tears of Love**

**Surviving Members: 8**

**Present Obtained: Pearl Anklet - Proof that you cleared Chapter 4. A memento of Angie. The location of where she wears this reminds me of how she used her ankle flails during the Killing Titan War.**


	35. Chapter 5: Despair L W Hope - Part 1

Shulk, Zellium, and Saeyimur went into the library from the hidden door and shut the bookshelf before someone could notice, if there was anyone else besides them.

The blonde-haired boy wiped the sweat of his forehead. "That was a close one, but we made it. Now what?"

**"We fight back against the mastermind, of course!"** Zellium answered.

"Right. Zell came up with an excellent plan and **now is the best time to put it into action**." Saeyimur agreed.

"OK, so what do we do?" Shulk asked.

"Follow my lead. **With this plan, the mastermind won't suspect a thing until the next trial's over!**" Sharla's Cinderace partner exclaimed.

Without any objections, the three of them ran off. It was finally time to put Zellium's plan into action and break the survivors out.

**...**

**Begin Chapter 5: Despair Lurking Within Hope**

At this point, none of us knew what to expect the next day. I went to the dining hall and saw that the ahoge on Keebo's head was gone and that his light had reverted back to what it was before Miu's death.

Gonta, Kiyo, Miyuji, and Kokichi were talking with each other while Kaede, Tenko, and Keebo focused on eating breakfast.

_I wonder if Keebo has an eating function installed though._ I thought to myself. _Regardless, this room feels more empty now with four more of us gone._

"Is everyone feeling OK after what happened last night?" I asked.

"Yeah, I feel a whole lot better than last night." Kaede admitted.

"Me too." Tenko agreed.

"To be honest, all of us do feel a bit better." Keebo said.

"H-How can you guys be s-so calm when f-four people are d-dead?" Kokichi nervously asked.

"You need to calm down, we just needed the time to ourselves to think over what happened." Miyuji responded.

"Miyuji's right. Even us Disciples have a breaking point somewhere and when we're pushed to it then things really snowball from there." Gonta added.

"O-Oh yeah, I-I kinda forgot about t-that." The faux supreme leader admitted.

What happened next really caught us off-guard.

_**BANG! BOOM!**_

The whole room shook as an explosion echoed from outside.

"What the hell was that?!" Kiyo yelled.

"It sounded like it came from outside, let's go!" I exclaimed as all of us ran out of the dining hall.

As we ran across the hallways, the explosions got louder. We ran out of the building and saw some parts of the academy being destroyed.

"T-The academy..! It's being destroyed!" Kaede shouted in fear.

"Sharla!"

We turned to see that Shulk, Zellium, and Saeyimur were the ones causing all of these explosions. Shulk's appearance was a big relief to me as I finally found him after many days in this academy.

"Shulk! I'm so glad you're OK!" I said as both of our groups got together.

"Yeah, but we got a bigger problem right now." Shulk said. **"The mastermind took most of my fighting ability right out of my body and they became something a single person wouldn't be able to fight."**

**"And they don't know we're doing this until the next trial."** Saeyimur added.

**"When the next trial happens, that's when the destruction of this hell can truly begin."** Zellium finished.

**"You mean after the next murder?!"** Tenko asked.

"It seems like it." I answered.

It was at that point that Kokichi and Keebo left us and I didn't see where they went. Regardless, Zellium and Shulk explained their plan to all of us. Kaede, Miyuji, and Tenko seemed a bit nervous but they agreed to it anyway if it can get us out of here.

"Everything will be normal until then." Saeyimur said.

I nodded my head in agreement "Alright. We've been here for a while now, so what have we got to lose?"

* * *

I wasn't sure what happened after that but Shulk, Zellium, and Saeyimur kept the destruction at a minimal to prevent the Monokubs from getting suspicious and the day went on like any normal day here so nighttime gave me a moment to think about the plan now in action from here on out.

_I'm glad Shulk's safe though. I hope this plan works the way he, Zellium, and Saeyimur want it to._ I thought to myself as I went to sleep.


	36. Chapter 5: Despair L W Hope - Part 2

The next day, I decided to grab my rifle from off the stand in my room and put on my back before heading to the dining hall. Given our current situation I felt like it was needed now more than ever.

Once I got to the dining hall, the others were surprised that I brought my rifle with me even though they know my Ultimate talent. Kokichi in particular looked like he could throw up as his face was turning pale in fear.

"I know this seems strange to some of you." I began. "But Zell's plan is bigger than you think, we can't just act like everything's fine. We have to be ready for anything if the Monokubs find out."

"D-Do we got t-to?" Kokichi asked. "I-I still c-can't stop thinking a-about what happened in the K-Killing Titan War."

"Well how else would we defend ourselves despite our fears?" Kiyo responded, sarcasm in his voice. "Besides, **I still have my scythe in my room and Gonta has his sword with him**."

"R-Really? W-Well, **I s-should have my g-gauntlets in m-my lab**. I-I'll be right b-back." The purple-haired boy said as he left the dining hall.

"I... I should go after him. **I'm already capable of defending myself anyway.**" Keebo admitted before he went after the faux supreme leader.

_They better not do anything __**too**__ drastic._ I thought.

"D-Does that mean my Neo-Aikido skills won't be enough?" Tenko asked nervously.

"I'm afraid not." I answered. **"If we're going to stand a chance against the mastermind, all of us need our own weapon of choice."**

"So you're saying **we should get weapons to defend ourselves**?" Kaede wondered.

I only nodded in confirmation. The pianist seemed to understand and we decided to go to the warehouse to get some weapons.

"If Kaede and Tsumugi can make shot put balls weapons then there should be some good weapons in here." Gonta theorized.

"Don't start with that." Kaede snarked. "Besides, I know what weapon I like."

"I bet there's something that fits my style here somewhere." Tenko said as she went off to find a weapon suited for her.

"I don't know about you guys but I think **an Ether staff is what calling out to me as it's master**!" Miyuji exclaimed as she ran off to find the weapon she wants.

"Gonta, Kiyo, can you both help the girls find the weapons they want and show them how they work? I'm going to find Kokichi and Keebo." I said.

"Got it." Kiyo replied simply.

"You can count on us." Gonta assured.

With their confirmation, I exited the warehouse and went up to Kokichi's lab and the saw the purple-haired boy there trying to get his gauntlets adjusted.

"Did I show up at a wrong time?" I asked in amusement.

"N-No, not at a-all. I-I was just a-adjusting my g-gauntlets so they w-work right." The MMORPG gamer answered. **"K-Keebo's at the E-Exisal hangar waiting for m-me to show u-up."**

"Why does he want you to meet him there?" I wondered.

"**H-He wants me to p-prove my worth a-as the Disciple of S-Strength**. I-I was going to u-use **this black c-cloak** to catch him by s-surprise." He explained. "T-The problem is that i-it won't fit on m-me but **it l-looks like it'll fit on y-you, S-Sharla**."

He handed me the cloak and picked up one of the 'Electrohammers' Kaede had Miu make before the latter's death.

I was just confused by all of this. "You don't really have to-"

"D-Do this? I-I know, b-but it's the o-only way to prove my w-worth." Kokichi said as he put the hammer on his back and began to leave. "A-Anyway, I s-shouldn't keep Keebo w-waiting any longer. I-I'll see y-you soon if I m-make it out a-alive."

Once he left, I looked at the black cloak in my hands and the set of the remaining hammers nearby. I swore I could hear my own heartbeat as I thought to myself.

_**Is Shulk, Zell, and Sae's plan really going to work the way it is now?**_

_**What if the Monokubs notice and use the Exisals to kill them?**_

_I don't want that, not after everything that's happened!_

_So..._

_Kaede... Miyuji... Gonta... Kiyo... Tenko... Shulk... Zell... Sae..._

_I'm sorry but..._

_**I have to do this.**_

_This is for you guys. __**I will protect all of you.**_

With no other options, I put on the cloak, put the attached hood over my head, grabbed a hammer, and set off for the Exisal hangar where Kokichi and Keebo will be.

I used the hammer to disable the door and got in to see a horrific sight...

Kokichi was there, his scarf missing and his clothes and gauntlets covered in oil and the blood from what I assumed was from his injuries...

And he was standing over the destroyed corpse of K1-B0 'Keebo' Idabashi with oil spilling out.

I tossed the hammer aside and shouted in rage and horror. "Kokichi! What have you done?!"

The Disciple of Strength turned to look at me in fear and panic. "S-Sharla! I-It's not what t-this seems!"

On pure instinct, I took out my rifle and shot two electric bullets at him, knocking him back a bit. "Don't lie to me! **You killed him!**"

"I-Is there no o-other way?! T-Then..." Kokichi muttered as he clenched his fists and his gauntlets were engulfed in purple flames. "DARKNESS LARIAT!"

_Looks like I'll have to use that power after all._ I thought as I pulled out my Battle Gem and focused everything I got into it, causing a yellow light to form. "Monado... Shield me!"

The force field summoned managed to block Kokichi's Art and push him back. He flinched in pain as the shield vanished. "Y-Y-You still c-couldn't save h-him. W-W-What c-can s-someone like you d-do?"

My rage was now at a blood-boiling point as I kept shooting at him with my rifle before dark Ether particles formed in my hand where I held my Battle Gem. "I'll strike you down!"

I fired Monado Eater at him and heard him scream as his gauntlets _and_ his lower arms holding them were sliced off by the sheer amount of Ether and force.

"Y-Y-You're... j-just as worthless t-to me as you were t-then. **N-N-Now look at m-me... a-about to be k-killed by the g-girl who d-defies her d-destiny**. H-H-How did I-I end up l-like this?" He stuttered as his face turned pale.

"This was bound to happen!" I said as I prepared my bullets for the finishing shots. **"You'll end up like Tsumugi and Angie except _I'm_ the one to bring your execution!"**

The faux supreme leader's purple eyes widened in horror. "Y-Y-You must b-be joking r-right? Y-You can't do t-this to me, I'm s-stronger than you!"

"You're wrong! You can't break me now! My heart is completely stronger than yours could ever be!" I shouted as I fired three bullets at his chest and used Head Shot to deliver the final blow.

He fell onto the floor on his back and a large pool of blood formed underneath his body. This felt wrong but I knew I was doing Kaede, Miyuji, and Tenko a favor by doing what I did.

Kokichi Oma, the Disciple of Strength, faux Ultimate Supreme leader, and the Ultimate MMORPG Gamer is dead at my hands.

_It's finally over._ I thought to myself.

Seeing Kokichi's scarf stained with Keebo's oil, I picked it up and tied it around the purple-haired boy's terrified eyes so the others would have a clue to who killed Keebo before moving his bloodied arms near where they were connected to his upper arms. I ran inside the hangar bathroom and took off the cloak before putting it on the sink. The body discovery announcement indicated to me that the others noticed my absence, used the remaining hammers to get in, and discovered Keebo and Kokichi's bodies.

**_When the trial begins, the murder I committed will be filled with mystery._** I thought as I put my Battle Gem back in my waistcoat before joining the others.


	37. Chapter 5: Despair L W Hope - Part 3

**...**

**Begin Deadly Life**

"What the actual fuck are we lookin' at?" Gonta asked.

"How the hell should I know?!" Miyuji yelled. "They were fine when they left the dining hall."

"Calm down you two." I said. **"There could be two killers this time."**

"Then we don't have time to waste!" Tenko exclaimed as she ran off to start her investigation. "Whoever did this is gonna pay big time!"

_**She's gonna have to reconsider that when she finds out.**_ I thought as all of us went to do our own investigations.

Kaede went over to Kokichi's body and saw his oil-stained scarf that I tied over his eyes and his bloodied lower arms with his gauntlets still on. "**The cuts on the arms don't look like they were caused by a weapon** and Kokichi's scarf is drenched with oil."

"Perhaps **his killer is trying to leave us a message that he was the one who killed Keebo**?" Kiyo suggested.

"It appears so, that must be why his gauntlets are stained with Keebo's oil. **Kokichi's killer walked in on him after the first murder and killed him in retaliation!**" The pianist theorized.

"I think it's best to save that theory for the trial." I told her.

_I hate that I have to act like I wasn't a killer, but I have no choice._ I thought to myself as I followed Kaede to the hangar bathroom.

"Um, Kaede, **do you know why me and Gonta found a black cloak in here**?" Tenko asked as she held the cloak.

The pianist clearly didn't know so I figured the others didn't know that I killed Kokichi. I pretended to be terrified and gasped. "You don't think... Whoever it is plans to get away with it, don't you?!"

"Look, if we don't find out who it was, we'll never find out their motive." Miyuji said. "Besides, **I saw a figure wearing that cloak entering this place using one of the hammers from the EMProject but I didn't see their face during that time**."

_**So they only know that I was wearing the cloak and used the hammer to get in?**__ Weird, I thought for sure someone would fully see me before then._ I thought.

* * *

I wasn't sure how long the investigation took since no one could find much, but it was time for the trial regardless. The elevator ride down to the trial room felt longer than it actually is. I turned to face Kaede.

"Hey, Kaede?" I began. "Can we talk?"

"Of course! What is it?" The pianist wondered.

"I think the others are scared of finding out the truth. But I know they'll have to accept it no matter how scary it is."

"You think so, Sharla?"

"Well, you probably wouldn't like it either. So I want you to never lose sight of the truth no matter how much despair it causes you."

"If that's what you want and if it will keep me fighting for the future then I'll do it."

I smiled in relief. "The future can be something to look forward or not but it doesn't matter. Thank you, Kaede."

"No problem." The pianist said as she blushed.

As I thought to myself, an image of Keebo and Kokichi's bodies flashed in my mind.

_**Kokichi killed Keebo for reasons unknown... and I killed him upon finding out the truth.**_

An image of myself in the cloak flashed in my mind.

_**Are the others really going to be OK when I reveal what I've done to them?**__ I have to get them to trust me!_

For what would seem to be the final time, images of everyone flashed in my mind.

_I don't want to force them through this despair but it's the only way! __**I'm no stranger to murder and the 'first come, first serve' rule might be in play anyway...**__ so I'm sure they'll still believe in me. Regardless of whenever or not they'll forgive me for what I've done, I still have to fight to protect everyone in this trial of truth and lies!_


	38. Chapter 5: Despair L W Hope - Part 4

**Class Trial - IN SESSION**

**...**

For what will soon prove to be the final time, we filed out of the elevator and went to our podiums. I looked around with regret seeing five new portraits around us.

I was flanked on both sides with dead faces. The 'X' over Kaito's face was rather simple as he would prefer a supernova or something like that. Angie didn't have an 'X' but rather a halo and a pair of angel wings on her portraits.

Tokuko's was the most artistic I've seen, her 'X' was made from two blossoming roses with vines attached. If she was still here and didn't give up her life trying to save Angie, she would've liked the symbolism of her talent in it.

Tenko was also flanked by dead faces on both sides, both of the degenerate males she hated so much. Keebo's 'X' looked very mechanical to the point I couldn't tell how it was 'built', Kokichi's didn't have an 'X' like most of portraits but rather a messy red checkmark.

_Are the Monokubs actually __**happy**__ that I killed him? If so, I might have done them a favor too._ I thought to myself.

After the explanation on how the trial works from the Monokubs, Miyuji scratched the back of her head as she looked down in disbelief. "Geez. This case is one big mystery, especially since **this trial only covers Keebo's death even though we found both his and Kokichi's bodies at the same time**."

"Then it's best if **we focus on Keebo's death since we have more evidence for him thanks to Kokichi's killer**." Kaede advised.

"I agree." I said, trying to act like nothing was wrong. "They clearly wanted us to know who was responsible given the state we found the bodies in."

"Well the last time most of us saw Keebo was in the dining hall before all of us went to the warehouse to get weapons to defend ourselves." Kiyo started the non-stop debate.

"Really? **I swore I heard him mutter something about luring Kokichi into the Exisal hangar.**" Miyuji admitted. "He'd have to be completely insane to go to the very place that freakin' weapons of mass destruction are stored!"

"We don't even fuckin' know what exactly happened." Gonta pointed out. **"Only the Exisals and Monokubs can get in there without a problem."**

**"Unless they had an Electrohammer with them!"** Tenko exclaimed. "Keebo, Kokichi, and the other killer all must've had one with them so they can get in!"

Then I heard Kaede say the contradiction I was looking for.

"Even after they got in, **Keebo's the only one who had no way to defend himself**."

_**No, that's wrong!**_ I thought before speaking up. "Hold on a second, Kaede. Try to remember **what Keebo said before leaving the dining hall to go after Kokichi**."

_**...**_

_**"I... I should go after him. I'm already capable of defending myself anyway."**_

_**...**_

"He said that **he was already capable of defending himself**." I said.

"I see, so before the second killer showed up **Keebo and Kokichi got into a struggle in the hangar**." The pianist responded.

"And the second killer just so happened to walk in on the aftermath!" Miyuji exclaimed.

"Now that I think about it more..." Gonta muttered. **"I think Keebo's killer is clear from the oil-stained gauntlets and the scarf tied over their eyes."**

"I was thinking the same thing to be honest." I admitted. **"Kokichi used his gauntlets on Keebo, destroying him in the process and ending the struggle."**

"Hold on!" Tenko yelled. "If **that lying degenerate is the blackened for this case then who killed him**?"

"It was most likely whoever the cloak-wearing figure I saw was." Miyuji theorized. "When I saw them, I was working on my skills with Ether for the plan. **I think the killer had their Battle Gem hidden from my sight underneath their cloak and used it's secondary powers to control Ether along with a rifle to kill Kokichi. His blood looked sparkly when I took a closer look and the bullet wounds on his body so I figured that must be how it happened.**"

"Wait a minute!" Kaede shouted as her eyes widened in realization. "Now that you bring that up, Miyuji, **the only person out of all of us left who could use a rifle as a murder weapon was...**"

The vocalist was already looking at me. She looked like she was about to break as tears rapidly ran down her cheeks. She must've realized the same as Kaede did, the others looked at me in shock with Tenko crying just as hard as Miyuji.

The pianist was also starting to tear up. **"Sharla... did you do it? You... killed him... Right?"**

I looked down with regret and tears building in my eyes. "So you figured it out, huh? Well, you're right. **I'm the one who killed Kokichi.**"

"But why?" Tenko asked.

"The truth is..." I began, tears running down my cheeks.

**"I was afraid that Shulk, Zell, and Sae's plan wasn't going to work. So I figured if you all had weapons, you would stand a chance against the Exisals and the mastermind. But when I went to find Kokichi and Keebo, Kokichi gave me the cloak before heading to the hangar. It was at that point when I grew afraid of the plan failing, so I put on the cloak and became the figure Miyuji saw. When I got in the hangar, I saw Kokichi covered in oil and his own blood standing over Keebo's body. I just happened to break in at the wrong time! I had no other choice but to kill him! He would've been executed anyway even if I didn't kill him."**

It must have hurt for the others to hear logic like mine. To them it felt like a twisted act of 'mercy', to me it was a deep regret I had no choice but to inflict. I thought back to how I killed him.

_**...**_

**_"Kokichi! What have you done?!"_**

**_The Disciple of Strength turned to look at me in fear and panic. "S-Sharla! I-It's not what t-this seems!"_**

**_On pure instinct, I took out my rifle and shot two electric bullets at him, knocking him back a bit. "Don't lie to me! You killed him!"_**

**_"I-Is there no o-other way?! T-Then..." Kokichi muttered as he clenched his fists and his gauntlets were engulfed in purple flames. "DARKNESS LARIAT!"_**

**_I pulled out my Battle Gem and focused everything I got into it, causing a yellow light to form. "Monado... Shield me!"_**

**_The force field summoned managed to block Kokichi's Art and push him back. He flinched in pain as the shield vanished. "Y-Y-You still c-couldn't save h-him. W-W-What c-can s-someone like you d-do?"_**

**_My rage was now at a blood-boiling point as I kept shooting at him with my rifle before dark Ether particles formed in my hand where I held my Battle Gem. "I'll strike you down!"_**

**_I fired Monado Eater at him and heard him scream as his gauntlets and his lower arms holding them were sliced off by the sheer amount of Ether and force._**

**_"Y-Y-You're... j-just as worthless t-to me as you were t-then. N-N-Now look at m-me... a-about to be k-killed by the g-girl who d-defies her d-destiny. H-H-How did I-I end up l-like this?" He stuttered as his face turned pale._**

**_"This was bound to happen!" I said as I prepared my bullets for the finishing shots. "You'll end up like Tsumugi and Angie except I'm the one to bring your execution!"_**

**_The faux supreme leader's purple eyes widened in horror. "Y-Y-You must b-be joking r-right? Y-You can't do t-this to me, I'm s-stronger than you!"_**

**_"You're wrong! You can't break me now! My heart is completely stronger than yours could ever be!" I shouted as I fired three bullets at his chest and used Head Shot to deliver the final blow._**

**_He fell onto the floor on his back and a large pool of blood formed underneath his body._**

_**...**_

By this point all of us were crying hard. None of us liked this anymore, we wanted this to end.

So we can go back to live our normal lives in a world without gods.

_I'm sorry, everyone. But he left me no choice but to kill him._ I thought to myself as I spoke up. **"D-Do you guys forgive me for what I've done?"**

**...**

**Class Trial - INTERMISSION**


	39. Chapter 5: Despair L W Hope - Part 5

**Class Trial - RESUME**

**...**

"Wh-What? **A culprit askin' for fuckin' forgiveness?!** That's unheard of!" Monosuke yelled.

"Don't be so quick to judge, Monosuke!" Monophanie scolded. **"We got even more problems to deal with!"**

"PLEASE-KEEP-QUIET-I'M-TRYING-WATCH-HERE." Monodam advised.

"But what about-"

"BE-QUIET!" The green bear yelled.

"E-Either way no matter where you slice it, Sharla..." Miyuji whimpered as she turned back to face me. **"I-Is Kokichi the blackened for this case?"**

I nodded in confirmation. "Yep. I only ask you to forgive me for what I've done to him in retaliation."

"It's alright, we'll forgive you. **This moment must be why you wanted to talk to me before this trial began.**" Kaede muttered.

_**...**_

_**"Hey, Kaede? Can we talk?"**_

_**"Of course! What is it?"**_

_**"I think the others are scared of finding out the truth. But I know they'll have to accept it no matter how scary it is."**_

_**"You think so, Sharla?"**_

_**"Well, you probably wouldn't like it either. So I want you to never lose sight of the truth no matter how much despair it causes you."**_

_**"If that's what you want and if it will keep me fighting for the future then I'll do it."**_

_**"The future can be something to look forward or not but it doesn't matter. Thank you, Kaede."**_

_**"No problem."**_

_**...**_

"Sharla did what she did for all of us and we had no idea." Miyuji said in realization of my true motive. **"There's no doubt that the plan will be successful now considering Kokichi was the second traitor needed dead for it to work."**

"It is a shame that two of mine and Gonta's friends from the war had to die in order to make it a success." Kiyo pointed out.

"Angie and Kokichi were both great Disciples in their own right." Gonta muttered.

"Let's end this trial and plan our next move." Tenko advised.

Once the voting was over, the verdict wheel lit up with Kokichi's face and indicated that he was the blackened of this case regardless of what happened after the fact.

_And I already have a clue to what will happen once this is all over._ I thought to myself.

**...**

**Class Trial - ALL RISE**

**...**

"Wait a goddamn minute!" Gonta yelled. "If Kokichi's dead, then are you bitches gonna-"

"Execute me?!" I finished for the faux entomologist.

"Nah, **just cuz the blackened's already dead doesn't mean we can just sub in any of you bastards we want**!" Monosuke exclaimed. "We're very cautious about the rules after all."

"STILL, IT-WOULD-BE-A-SHAME-TO-LET-THE-PUNISHMENT-GO-TO-WASTE." Monodam continued.

"So instead, we prepared **a special guest** for the punishment!" Monophanie finished.

"A special guest?" Miyuji repeated.

My eyes widened in realization. **"You mean you're gonna execute Shulk?!"**

"LET'S-GIVE-IT-EVERYTHING-WE-GOT!" Monodam declared, ignoring my fearful question.

"It's... PUNISHMENT TIIIME!" All three of the remaining Monokubs cried out.

* * *

_**GAME OVER**_

_**Shulk will receive punishment.**_

_**Time to end the rebellion!**_

* * *

Shulk found himself unable to move with his hands folded in front of him as the stage starts to build itself around him, he struggles as a sea of Monokuma-like spectators emerge. Up on his platform, the blonde-haired boy saw he was leaning against a large wooden stake and the way back down has been replaced with piles and piles of branches.

Among the spectators, he saw Sharla and the other surviving students with her watching in fear and worry as everything was set for him to be burned alive.

* * *

_**The New Burning of the Versailles Witch**_

_**Former Ultimate Clairvoyant Shulk Soss's Execution: Executed**_

* * *

A masked Monosuke appeared bearing a torch flickering bright red against the rather murky medieval inspired backdrop. It lit the branches on fire and Shulk's face started turning pale as it got closer to him.

Then he remembers his Battle Gem he hid from sight and closed his eyes to concentrate Ether into it.

The fires around him are raging stronger and stronger, then suddenly, a bright ruby red light burst from Shulk's Battle Gem, activating his Xenoblade Transformation.

The surviving members looked on in shock and relief as Shulk used his new wings to fly away from his fiery fate.

* * *

After Shulk managed to escape, the trial room started to rumble and fall apart.

**"I guess Zell and Sae called for backup and Shulk didn't like having to escape execution."** Kaede theorized.

"Let's get moving! **THIS WHOLE PLACE IS GONNA BLOW!**" Miyuji shouted as all of us ran to the elevator.

Luckily, we all managed to get out of the Shrine of Judgement right before it was completely destroyed by a blast of Ether.

"That was too close!" Tenko exclaimed, breathing hard.

"But what the hell is going on out here?!" Kiyo asked.

We all looked around to see the academy being destroyed from all sides by some recognizable figures. Zell and Sae really did go through with their plan and now, like Kaede said, they brought backup.

_It appears that the destruction of the Ultimate Academy has now officially began._ I thought to myself as a bright light like the one that came off Zanza blinded us from above.

**...**

**End of Chapter 5: Despair Lurking Within Hope**

**Surviving Members: 6**

**Present Obtained: Battle Gem Shards - Proof that you cleared Chapter 5. A memento of Kokichi. The remains of his Battle Gem is all anyone has to know his fate. At least this will be all over soon.**


	40. Chapter 6: The GSP - Part 1

When the light faded, the six of us saw a familiar boy with his green tea-colored hair darkened to an unrecognizable dark green and styled in a similar way to Zanza's, glowing green eyes with the whites of them replaced by black, and dark blue lightning bolt markings on both sides of his cheeks. He was wearing an exact replica of the armor Zanza wore upon the final fight with him except for the helmet, he even had the exact same wings as during that time. In his right hand was a dark blue and metallic hybrid of Zanza and Shulk's Monados.

As he appeared before us, we all knew that this was the mastermind we have been searching for this whole time.

"Well, well. If it isn't the Ultimate Sharpshooter, Sharla Kuhlauf. You have done well." He spoke.

My eyes widened in realization. **"Rantaro?! You're to blame for this game and Shulk's suffering?! We thought you died!"**

Rantaro just laughed. **"The person that you saw dead in the library was one of the five students from Akademi High who were willing to give up their lives for my plans."**

"Wait..." Miyuji muttered. **"You mean my school's whole Drama Club took part in this game?!"**

"You are correct." The mastermind confirmed. **"Tsuruzo Yamazaki, Tokuko Kitagawa, Riku Soma, Shozo Kurosawa, and Kokona Haruka all accepted to get this killing game going even if it costed them their lives."**

"So this is how far despair can drive someone to something like this." Kaede said. **"Tsuruzo and Tokuko were in this game with us... and they both died at it's hands."**

"Both of them insisted to join with you guys from the start, so I obliged and **had Tsuruzo take my place and Tokuko joined once Tsumugi killed him**."

"So that explains the 'orchid purple hairdye'." I snarked as I thought back to when I unknowingly encountered Tsuruzo for the first time.

_**...**_

_**"Not to change the subject or anything but, how did you get the tips of your hair purple?"**_

_**"Ah. It's orchid purple hairdye. I just thought the color suited me, that's all."**_

_**...**_

"But where are Riku, Shozo, and Kokona?" Tenko asked. "All we've heard is that they were worried about Tokuko's disappearance, is that a lie you made for your plans?"

Instead of answering, Rantaro watched as the Monokubs appeared in front of us and then thick smoke engulfed them. When it cleared, most of our eyes widened in shock and horror.

In the place of the Monokubs were Riku, Shozo, and Kokona but they looked different from what we saw in Tokuko's motive video. All of them had the whites in their eyes replaced by black and their normal eye colors were glowing, dark purple lightning bolt markings on their cheeks, and their hair colors were changed. Riku's was a very dark purple, Shozo's was a mulberry color, and Kokona's was a orchid purple like Tsuruzo's was. All of them looked malicious and unhinged.

"Oh my god! What have you done to them?!" Miyuji demanded as she pulled out her Ether staff and pointed it at Rantaro.

"**When I first came to the Drama Club for help, these three asked to help run this game**." The mastermind explained. **"Therefore they disguised themselves as three of the Monokubs. This made them into who they are now."**

"You monster! You've gone too far with this!" Gonta yelled.

"Has he? We think not." Riku said suddenly.

Shozo soon followed up. **"If you want to kill him..."**

**"You'll have to kill us first."** Kokona finished.

"If you do end up sending them to join Tsuruzo and Tokuko in the afterlife, **I'll be waiting for you at the heart of this academy**." Rantaro said as he started to fly to the spot he mentioned. "Make it quick! I'm itching for a great fight when you're done!"

_We'll show you, Rantaro! WE WILL STOP YOU!_ I thought as he flew off and light hid him from sight.

**...**

**Begin Chapter 6: The God-Slaying Power**

All of us took out our weapons, Kaede had a katana she held with both of her hands and Tenko had a huge hammer.

"They're not going to hold back so stay on your guard!" Kiyo advised.

As the fight raged on, I noticed that the three mainly specialized in Ether Arts given the large amount of dark Ether being launched.

Miyuji and Kiyo fell to their knees from one of attacks and the three unhinged Drama Club members approached them.

"Had enough yet?" Riku asked mockingly.

"N-Never." Miyuji muttered with strained breathing.

"Then maybe it's time you both learned your place!" Kokona yelled as she and Shozo sent energy balls made out of Ether at them.

_**BANG!**_

I turned around to see that Miyuji's bandmates, Gita Yamahato, the Disciple of Sound, Beshi Takamine, the Ultimate Bassist, Dora Tamamoto, the Ultimate Drummer, and Kiba Kawaito, the Ultimate Keyboard Artist had taken the energy balls for the vocalist and Kiyo.

"NO!" The vocalist screamed. She managed to get up and jumped into the air with her staff pointed towards the sky. "YOU'RE BOTH GONNA PAY FOR THIS!"

What seemed to be a bright pink storm formed around the top of her staff and she shouted out as she fired the Ether.

"SONIC STORMWAVE!"

The storm was sent straight at Shozo and Kokona surrounded by a huge sound wave. The two screamed as the storm came crashing down on them, clearly killing them instantly.

"Damn you! I'll kill you for that!" Riku yelled as Miyuji landed back on the ground and he charged in.

Kiyo was faster to react though, slashing right through Riku with his double-sided scythe along with Ajia, who landed behind him just in time to help her boyfriend out and stabbed through Riku's chest with her katanas.

He fell to the ground dead when the two removed their weapons from his body. All of put our weapons away as we gather around the bodies.

As we did, I took notice of the outfits the five girls who joined us were wearing. Ajia was wearing a lavender and pink Japanese coat with a light blue shirt underneath, blue yoga-like pants with loose ends, a pair of light blue socks that she wore during the Killing Titan War, and brown sandals like the ones Tenko wears.

Gita was wearing a sleeveless orange crop top with a lace top over it, a skirt the same color as her hair, green and dark purple striped stockings, and dark grey boots with silver straps and soles that reach near her knees.

Beshi had a white shirt with a grey and silver jacket over it, a pair of jeens in the same two colors as her hair, dark grey dress shoes with grey soles, and three black bracelets around her right arm.

Dora had a white ripped-sleeved t-shirt with a red and blue cross and 'X' on it, jeen-colored shorts with straps on her shoulders and silver buttons, lace leggings, checkered shoes with white soles, and a pair of red, white, and blue sweatbands around her wrists.

And Kiba was wearing a black tank top with dark purple stripes, a purple short-sleeved overshirt with a black heart covered in green slime on it, black shorts with white rips at the bottom, a black belt with a silver buckle and spikes, dark purple-white stockings, white shoes with black laces and soles, and a pair of black and purple fingerless gloves with a few holes in them.

I shot a healing round into the air in order to be prepared for the final fight with Rantaro and we ran to the heart of the academy ready to end this. Shulk, Zell, and Sae were already there. Gita already had her quad-handguns, Beshi has her duel blades, Dora has her biter, and Kiba had her whip.

"Is everyone ready to end this once and for all?" Shulk asked.

All of us nodded. Suddenly, Rantaro's voice spoke from out of nowhere.

_"So, you finally made it, Sharla."_

"We defeated Riku, Shozo, and Kokona. They're with Tsuruzo and Tokuko now." I said.

_"I see. You've done well throughout this killing game."_ His voice responded. **_"Now let us begin the final battle that'll decide your fates!"_**

"Look out!" Sae yelled as light flared below and above us and spread out.

All of us shielded our faces as it rushed toward us and overtook us, and we could do nothing as it totally engulfed us.

It was time to end this killing game and escape this academy.


	41. Chapter 6: The GSP - Part 2

The light subsided and we found ourselves in a black version of the environment me and my friends fought Zanza in the Killing Titan War. Rantaro descends into this space from above and unfolds his wings.

"Welcome, Sharla." He said.

"He was waiting for her?" Gita muttered to her bandmates.

"How the hell should we know?" Kiba asked.

"I planned to use this killing game to lead her into believing that the false identities given to the the first 16 students in this game were the truth." Rantaro explained as he gripped his weapon tighter and held it up. "However, I noticed that she wasn't falling for any of it and I came across a great and unexpected power."

"It's you alright, **you're the one who took my fighting ability**!" Shulk yelled. "Give it back!"

"I won't give it back. It let me become something beyond anything you could imagine. Now I possess all that I desire."

He swung the sword back down and light flared from it. All of us flinched, but we did not back away.

"There's no longer any need for you to keep living." The mastermind proclaimed.

I heard my friends drawing their weapons and I took out my rifle and held it at the ready. We all glared up at Rantaro.

"I truly want to thank you, Sharla." The dark green-haired boy said as he smiled. "That special hope you had broke through everything that stood in your way. Now that I have all this power, I can forgive you for killing Kokichi."

Zell, Sae, and Dora scoffed as Tenko stepped forward. "You're going to give her a reward or something?" She asked in disdain.

"Exactly." The mastermind answered simply. "I'll have her gain the powers of a goddess equal to Zanza's. Death is just an afterthought."

Beshi and Kiba growled as Miyuji spoke up and Kaede stepped forward.

"Are you so _arrogant_ to believe that we... no... _**everyone**_** in this game were **_**nothing**_** but **_**your playthings**_?!" The vocalist demanded, pointing her staff at him.

"Playthings?" The false god repeated.

"Yeah!" Kaede yelled, glaring up at him. "You don't know how it feels to watch my friends die, even if their entire selves were lies!"

"What are you talking about?" Rantaro asked. "Most of you wished to become a completely different person and I gave you that wish. For that, you should be _grateful_."

Gonta scoffs and steps forward. "So this is the pride of a false god."

"As I planned, **this killing game was made to entertain the people of this world**." Rantaro continued. **"This game is nothing more than fiction made for them."**

"Even though you do this for entertainment, we were still forced to take part in this game while you hid from sight!" Kiyo shouted.

"That's how _limited_ you are!" Zell added.

"Hid from sight?" The mastermind repeated with a laugh. "I was just... resting there for a while. I simply awaited the day when one of you would prove yourself worthy for me to watch."

"Until..." I muttered in realization. **"I became worthy."**

"Precisely." The false god confirmed. "I wanted to see how you would fair in a game where murder is the only way to escape. However, **I had no idea you would commit murder yourself**."

"Sharla..." Zell muttered as he looked at me sadly.

A blur of motion caught his attention and he gasped as Rantaro's Monado swung down swiftly, coming to rest close to my face. The others took a step back, pointing their weapons at the mastermind in alarm.

"You did a great deed giving me this power." Rantaro said, addressing me. "I'll gladly make you the new goddess of this world... Sharla."

I didn't need anyone's wordless fury to know my answer. "Never! I don't want to be your ally _or_ the new goddess!"

I pointed my rifle directly at him before continuing. "I just want to live my life as as Homs, in this world without people like you!"

"How regrettable." The mastermind muttered. "You could've trusted me and obtained peace. But I suppose the vision of people like you could remain... limited. Using one's power to change the world. That right is possessed _only_ by gods."

"Is that why you were watching her?" Sae asked.

"You're correct. You yourselves have proven that you're dangerous to humanity. How... unfortunate." He shook his head, seeming almost sorrowful. "I had a desire for friendship in the past. But letting you in this game together was a mistake. This game wasn't meant for friendship."

"You're wrong!" I shouted, clashing the end of my rifle with his Monado and getting it away from my face. "Tsuruzo and Tokuko chose to live alongside us! They grew to consider us their friends. You should've accepted that! But what you were hoping for was not friendship. You wanted worthless puppets. Our lives for entertainment!"

"Just as I suspected." Rantaro muttered. "It seems I was mistaken to let the game go on this long. However, all of it will soon be over. All of you will be wiped out of my sight. I will let the games continue! Just as they've been done many times before!"

He makes a grand gesture of slashing his Monado outwards in a burst of light.

"We will not allow it!" I shouted. "We can not! WE WILL STOP YOU!"

Rantaro smirked at us, and then he charged in to attack.

_**It's time to end this game for good! I'm gonna have to use my true power in order to defeat Rantaro!**_ I thought to myself as we charged at him and with that, the battle to end this killing game has begun.


	42. Chapter 6: The GSP - Part 3

I barely saw Rantaro's first attack coming. I ducked at the last second, feeling his Monado slicing through the air just above my head. I fired, but the mastermind countered the attack.

However, Gonta and Kiyo, both transformed, attacked from behind and Rantaro growled angerly, turning to face them and smashing them aside. Kaede, Tenko, Ajia, Beshi, and Dora hurried forward, but then, in a flash of light, corrupted copies of the deceased students in the way they died appeared and attacked them, striking all of them.

"Zell! Sae! Miyuji! Gita! Kiba!" I called out as Shulk locked his blade with Rantaro's Monado and struggled to keep it at bay.

"We're on it!" Zell shouted, launching a Pyro Ball at Tsuruzo, Tsumugi, Himiko, and Miu while Sae fired a lighting bolt at Maki, Kirumi, and Shuichi, Gita shot at Ryoma, Angie, Kaito, and Tokuko, and Kiba cracked her whip at Keebo and Kokichi.

They all turned to their attackers and rushed towards them and the four of them only had time for one startled cry before several attacks crashed into them, leaving a few wounds.

"YOU WILL NEVER DEFEAT ME!" Rantaro shouted, forcing Shulk back.

He stumbled, falling down and nearly dropping his weapon. But then Miyuji flung out fire, lightning, and sound waves, and Kaede, Ajia, Beshi, Dora, and Kiyo moved side-by-side to strike Rantaro.

The mastermind snarled wordlessly, smashing his Monado down on Kaede's shoulder. She collapsed, struggling to breathe, struggling to rise, and then Tsuruzo, Tsumugi, Himiko, Miu, Kirumi, Angie, Keebo, and Kokichi hurried for her.

"Oh no you don't!" Gonta yelled as he and Tenko barreled forward.

They crashed into the corruptions, sending them into a Topple and then Zell, Sae, and Gita fired at them despite the pain they must be in. All eight of them vanished immediately.

"I scrambled upright turning, seeing Rantaro glaring at Gonta and Tenko and then...

_"Behold my power!" The mastermind shouts as he raised his Monado high, a great blade of light bursting out of it. He swings downward and cleaves through Gonta and Tenko._

"NO!" I cried out, holding out my Battle Gem, the gem flashing gold.

"Behold my power!" Rantaro shouted as he raised his Monado high, a great blade of light bursting out of it. He swung downward, but two domed golden shields surrounded Gonta and Tenko, protecting them.

"What?!" The false god muttered. "That's impossible! HOW could you read my movements?!"

Dora tried to strike him, but the mastermind dodged the attack. Tenko turned and then swung her hammer at the ankles of Shuichi, Kaito, Maki, Tokuko, and Ryoma. Then Kiba and Ajia attacked together, the keyboard artist's whip and the Disciple of Gluttony's katanas puncturing them. In a few moments, they also disappeared.

Rantaro swung again, striking Ajia but she managed to angle herself so she took the blow on her right shoulder. Miyuji and Beshi attacked together and then me and Shulk ran forward and slammed a bullet from my rifle and his sword against the mastermind. He flew back, glaring down at us.

"You dare to oppose the will of the mastermind?" He demanded in anger. "Then I will obliterate everything with my new-found power!"

He tossed his Monado into the air and let it go through him as light engulfed him.

**_A Xenoblade Transformation!_** I thought to myself.

When the light faded, we looked up and saw a giant figure alot like what Zanza looked like in his 'powered-up' form.

"Now! Behold the true form of a despairful world!" Rantaro shouted as he pointed his Monado downward.

For a moment, I couldn't move. This whole fight was giving me flashbacks to the final fight with Zanza. I gave Shulk a quick nod in confirmation and we charged together.

"You could never hope to beat me!" Rantaro exclaimed as he swung his blade down, but I was ready and ducked beneath the blow and landing a solid shot on the mastermind.

Suddenly, dark light burst from him and I cried out as it struck me, causing me to double over. But then Zell and Kaede were on my left side and then Sae and Miyuji stood on my right side and they all attacked.

Rantaro cried out in fury, slamming his Monado down, but they scattered, throwing themselves out of the way. Then Dora and Kiba struck, darting away before striking again.

"This is my despairful answer!" The mastermind shouted as he slashed to try and strike Miyuji's bandmates, but the drummer and keyboard artist managed to dodge the attacks.

Gita fired and Rantaro turned his attention to her. But just as he swung at her, Gonta, Tenko, and Miyuji darted in front of her and caught the attack on their weapons, forcing the Monado aside./p

Beshi rushed ahead, striking Rantaro swiftly. I watched as she backed away quickly, her eyes glazed with pain and then...

_"Behold the power of despair!" The mastermind calls and before Beshi could dodge, he strikes her, killing her instantly._

"The future doesn't belong to you!" I shouted as I held my Battle Gem outward.

"Behold the power of despair!" Rantaro called, aiming to strike Beshi.

But blue light surrounded her and she darted away, the blow barely missing her.

"YOU ARE ALL DOOMED!" The false god proclaimed.

Light burst from him but I was ready this time, darting away. Then, as I turned back towards the mastermind, canary yellow suffused my vision and...

_Light blasts out from Rantaro repeatedly, striking me and knocking me back until I collapse._

I pointed my Battle Gem forward and the domed shield surrounded me just in time to repel the blasts of light.

"How?" Rantaro demanded. "How can you have visions?! You don't even have the Monado!"

"I don't know." I answered as I ran alongside Shulk as the two of us rush forward, dodging attacks and striking at the mastermind. "**It comes from the bottom of my heart.** It shows me my enemy. It reveals the future I must change!"

"The future we see is not set in stone." Shulk continued, blocking an attack. "**There are infinite possibilities based on the paths we choose.** You should've been aware of this notion. **Because that is how you always existed!**"

"I thought that was a right for gods and gods alone!" Rantaro shouted as he swung his blade, but Shulk leapt out of the way.

"Why should we care?!" I demanded as I leapt from behind and plunged the end of my rifle into Rantaro's shoulder.

He reared back in pain and threw me off. I roared a battle cry and flew up into the air with my rifle and Battle Gem in my hands before continuing. "What's important isn't whether you can see the future or not. It's the will to make a choice and the strength to seize your destiny! Our time has come. **OUR DESTINY IS OUR OWN!**"

My eyes glowed canary yellow and my Battle Gem glowed brightly as equally yellow beams of light shot up towards me from Miyuji, Gonta, Kiyo, Kaede, and Tenko's chests, where their hearts are and engulfed me in light.

In this light, I saw the deceased students in what they looked like before they died. They smiled as they reached out to touch my Battle Gem. All of them vanished as it seemed like what remained of their souls entered my Battle Gem. And as they did, Tsuruzo, Tsumugi, Himiko, Miu, Maki, Kirumi, Shuichi, Ryoma, Angie, Kaito, Tokuko, Keebo, and Kokichi all spoke one-by-one in that order to me.

"Make sure my death was never in vain, my little starlet!"

"End it for all of us, promise me, alright?"

"Nyeh... Tell Tenko to enjoy the future for me and give the mastermind a bad time."

"Looks like it's the end of the line for I, Miu Iruma! Don't let him win, Shyla!"

"You have my support. Don't get used to it even if this is my final moments."

"It was an honor to be at your service, Sharla. Use my strength to fulfill this final request to kill the mastermind, you were likely to do this more than I ever could."

"I'm sorry for accusing you of playing for the mastermind, Sharla. Don't give up on the truth and use my support to end this game once and for all."

"Looks like you did find your ways to go after all. Consider my last gift as an apology for trying to kill Kiyo."

"Lord Zanza might get mad when I say this but, I believe in you, Sharla! So believe in your own true strength!"

"The impossible is possible as long as you believe in yourself and your friends, Sharla! Give the mastermind hell for us!"

"Have him pay for all of his bloody sins against us and avenge our sacrifices!"

"You showed me that I could be just like anyone else. Don't let the mastermind take everything you've been through for granted!"

"I-I really didn't m-mean for you to k-kill me when I-I killed Keebo but, g-give the m-mastermind h-hell for me, O-OK?"

My Battle Gem glowed brighter as I raised it to the sky and shouted the phrase.

"XENOBLADE TRANSFORMATION!"

I closed my eyes as I felt my clothes vanish off my body. I spun around as the black, gold, and dark orange armor formed on me in solid light that wrapped around my body. A pair of white angel-like wings with black rims at the top and golden rings woven in appeared on my back and spread outwards. My normal rifle was replaced with one that looked like it was made out of canary yellow light. It had a large head-sink on one side covered by a shield-like plate with an orange stripe, an incorporeal scope and the gun barrel was completely made out of a beam of energy.

This was... my own True Monado…

The other weapon besides Shulk's that helped kill Zanza and end the Killing Titan War and will now kill Rantaro once and for all...

I used my wings to break out of the light that engulfed me and let everyone see me holding the new weapon in my hand as I floated in the air with my wings.

"No way... **a Monado**?!" Rantaro exclaimed in disbelief.

"It's not only gods who have the right!" Shulk said as he transformed and flew up to where I was with his hand-made Replica Monado in his hands. "Every living thing has the power to choose the path they'll walk! And that's the future!"

"The fourth Monado has reappeared. How could I let this happen?! You're just mortals!" The mastermind yelled.

He tried to charge at us but stopped when he saw the kanji for 'god' on the rings woven into my wings.

"That special hope this game of yours always brought up was the **love I've always felt for my friends!**" I shouted. "It keeps me going no matter what happens!"

"And now, **that power will be used to kill you**!" Shulk added as he used his Replica Monado to knock Rantaro's false weapon out of his hands, breaking it to millions of pieces.

"And we'll... SEIZE OUR DESTINY!" The two of us shouted in unison.

I then shouted out at the top of my lungs as I aimed at the defenseless Rantaro...

"Monado... GODSLAYER!"

I fired a powerful bullet made out of light which hit Rantaro and he started to explode on the inside.

"No... No! Everything that I am... all of it... It's... vanishing..." He muttered as the whole area was engulfed in light and I felt ourselves moving.

The Killing School Semester was finally over and we were finally heading back home to a world with no need for gods.

**...**

**End of Chapter 6: The God-Slaying Power**

**Final Survivors: 6**

**Present Obtained: Easter Egg - Proof that you cleared Chapter 6. A monument bearing words of resolution. The following words are inscribed on the front: "The power of love and friendship can break through all obstacles."**


	43. Epilogue: The World We Saved

**...**

**Begin Epilogue: The World We Saved**

Me and Shulk flew down with our wings as the others transformed back to normal and ran up to us.

"I can't believe you did that, Sharla!" Miyuji exclaimed. **"It looks like we're finally going back home after all this time."**

"This isn't the first time something like this has happened." Zell snarked.

Gonta, Kiyo, Ajia, Gita, Dora, Beshi, and Kiba nodded in confirmation as Sae spoke. "Some of us were there, it was amazing."

Shulk laughed as he turned to face me. "Sharla, because of you, we were able to kill Rantaro and get my complete fighting ability back."

"Yep. I'm glad we did so, otherwise you would've been a goner." I said.

"Got it." Ajia muttered before turning to face us. "Shoku just called me to say that **the plan was a big success and that the academy has been destroyed for good**."

"That's great news! Let's meet them back home!" Gita shouted in excitement.

"I'm on it." I said as I pointed my Monado outwards towards the other side of the vortex we were in. "You guys might want to hold onto something."

In a flash of light and what felt like an instant, we were teleported back to the world created after Zanza was defeated. Me and Shulk transformed back to normal and my Monado vanished when Fiora, Melia, Riki, Miyadera, Shoku, Kenko, Seiyo, and Saki ran towards us.

After telling them everything that happened during the killing game, we started up a game of beach volleyball with Riki as the 'ball' to his dismay. I looked out at the view of the beach.

"Sharla?" Zell called out my name as he, Miyuji, Gonta, Kiyo, and Ajia walked up to me.

I turned around to face them. "Oh. I was just thinking about what the future has in store after the killing game and everything."

"I'm certain that the future is bright for all of us." Miyuji said. "After what happened back there, we all deserve this victory."

"I agree." Gonta confirmed.

"We might not know what the future holds, but that means we can imagine all of the possibilities." Kiyo brought up.

"It wasn't good in the past. But I know that now we can have the happy ending we all strived for." Ajia admitted.

"That's true." Zell said. "Come on! Let's play some volleyball before we go our separate ways!"

"Alright, Zell." I obliged with a laugh. "Regardless of the future, we'll face it together... as friends."

After that, we all ran over to play a game of volleyball before we have to go to our own homes. I couldn't help but smile the whole time.

**_Now we can put the killing game and the Killing Titan War behind us and head towards our bright future together._** I thought to myself.

**...**

_**The End**_

**(A/N: And with that, this rewrite is officially complete! With 5 class trials, a destroyed academy, 14 deceased students, and 6 lucky survivors. This doesn't mean I'm done just yet! On or near the official release of **_**Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition**_**, I'll begin work on this story's prequel, Killing God Havoc! It'll be done in two side-by-side arcs called the 'Disciple Arc' and the 'Monado Arc', so when work does begin, reading just one of these arcs won't get you far. Stay tuned for that and keep up on my Tumblr for character bios of the prequel and lore that'll might or might not appear in the story itself. Until next time, don't get cooked, stay off the hook!)**


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